W15.2-Introduction to Sociology/Demography

1) Summarize 

Demography is the study of human population dynamics. It encompasses the study of the size, structure, and distribution of populations, and how populations change over time due to births, deaths, migration, and aging. Demographic analysis can relate to whole societies or to smaller groups defined by criteria such as education, religion, or ethnicity.

Fertility, in demography, refers to the ability of females to produce healthy offspring. Fecundity is the potential reproductive capacity of a female. Some of the more common demographic measures used in relation to fertility and/or fecundity include:

  • crude birth rate: the annual number of live births per thousand people
  • general fertility rate: the annual number of live births per 1000 women of childbearing age (often taken to be from 15 to 49 years old, but sometimes from 15 to 44).
  • age-specific fertility rate: the annual number of live births per 1000 women in particular age groups (usually age 15-19, 20-24 etc.)
  • total fertility rate: the number of live births per woman completing her reproductive life if her childbearing at each age reflected current age-specific fertility rates
  • gross reproduction rate: the number of daughters who would be born to a woman completing her reproductive life at current age-specific fertility rates
  • net reproduction rate: the number of daughters who would be born to a woman according to current age-specific fertility and mortality rates

2) Interesting point

The point I'm most interested in is that once countries go through a demographic transition, some countries have fertility rates that drop so much that they're well below replacement level and the population starts to shrink (Russia has been doing the same in recent years, although immigration is also in the Russian population played a role in the decline). A new concern for many governments, especially those in countries with very low fertility rates, is that population declines will reduce the country's GDP and economic growth, since population growth is often the driver of economic expansion. In response to extremely low birth rates, some of these governments have introduced pro-family policies, including measures such as paying parents for childbearing and extending parental leave for parents. These policies may reverse low fertility rates, but they may also check overpopulation.

3) Discussion point

Faced with a problem that may reverse low fertility and exacerbate overpopulation, how should we solve it?

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