Population Pyramids And Controlling Population Flashcards
1
Q
Reasons to control population
A
- Pressure of resources- Inheritance patterns made divided farms too small to be viable and led to food insecurity
- Over-expanding population
- Unemployment
- Rural peasants lived in poverty and there were many periods of widespread and extreme misery
2
Q
Lack of food resources
A
- One of the major challenges was producing sufficient food, mostly grain, o feed its expanding population
- In the early years of Communist rule in China, it was proposed that the doubling of the population in the 18th and 19th century was creating an unbearable pressure on the land
3
Q
China’s unemployment problems
A
- This has been an issue that China could face as its population increases.
- The recent development of urban based industries has provided many employment opportunities, and surplus agricultural workers have migrated to urban areas
4
Q
China unemployment statistic
A
- 1985: 1.8% 1995: 2.9%
- estimated that the working age population of China will increase by 30% from 1995 to 2020.
- The no. of urban unemployed has been increasing due to the closure of many loss-making industries and factories
5
Q
Difficulties in food production
A
- Hard to sustain: It is doubtful that China can sustain the necessary annual increase in grain production
- Land is not as fertile: increased use of fertilisers, pesticides, high-yielding varieties and genetically improved crops = increased productivity per hectare, but the decline in the absolute amount of arable land may reduce the effects of these technical improvements
6
Q
Difficulties in food production (sustainability) statistic
A
Total and per capita food production has been increasing steadily since 1950 but was unable to match this steady growth and has fluctuated around the 450 billion kg.
7
Q
Difficulties in food production (infertile land) statistic
A
The average area of land per person in China is 50% less than the world average
8
Q
Reasons for China’s infertile land
A
- Arable land in China is being lost at an increasing rate due to urbanisation, natural disasters, soil erosion and construction projects
- Urban areas are consuming more and more land as the proportion of urban dwellers in China rises. The cultivation of crops on marginal or unsuitable land is one of the major causes of soil erosion in China.
9
Q
Wan Xi Shao impact statistic
A
- During the 1970s, in less than 10 years, fertility levels declined at a rate not seen before in an agricultural nation.
- By the end of the decade, women were having half as many children as before.
- total fertility rates from 1970: 5.81 to 1978: 2.72
10
Q
Wan Xi Shao success or not?
A
However, despite the relatively low total fertility rate, population increase will continue for many years as a consequence of population momentum - the very high numbers of young people in the population producing large numbers of children as soon as they reach child-bearing age.
11
Q
Wan Xi Shao as not successful statistic
A
- The demographic population policy target set in 1979 was to limit population numbers to 1200 million and to reach 0 growth by 2000.
- In 1986, when it was obvious that this ambitious target was not likely to be achieved, the limit was adjusted to 1300 million
12
Q
One child policy
A
- Implemented in 1980-2016
- sets the minimum age of marriage and the maximum number of children (with a heavy fine of £3,000, which only the very prosperous families would be able to afford
- 90% of the majority of the population were affected by this policy
- By adopting a system of financial rewards and penalties, family planning encouraged a change in cultural practices: later marriage, and later and fewer births more widely spaced.
13
Q
One child policy in rural areas (exemptions)
A
- Each province can adopt measures to take into account existing population density, resources and level of economic development e.g Sichuan it is adhered to rural/urban areas
- Birth rates are particularly high in rural areas where there is little education and where children working on the land help raise family incomes.
- In some villages couples have to get the permission of the village council to have a child. This permission may even be displayed on a board bearing other information such as the amount of tax paid, for all to see
- In more remote areas it is more difficult for the authorities to check up and thus large numbers of births are not reported. With few schools and little medicare there is little to be lost if births are not registered.
14
Q
One child policy (exemptions)
A
- In urban areas if husband and wife are each from a one child family they are permitted to raise two children
- Where divorcees remarry in urban areas, the couple are permitted to have another child if the woman has no previous children
- Couples are also permitted to bear another child if their first child is mentally handicapped or dies
- Some minority groups are allowed two children
15
Q
One child policy statistics (positive)
A
- Family planning policies have reduced the Total Fertility Rate (TFR):
- 5.75 (1970), 2.25 (1990), 1.7(2000)
- Chinese government claim 400 million births have been prevented thanks to the one child policy.
