eco 101 high death rate

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently directed his nation's parliament to develop a plan to reduce the country's falling birthrate. In a speech to parliament on May 10, 2006, Putin called the problem of Russia's dramatically declining population, "The most acute problem of contemporary Russia."
The president called on parliament to provide incentives for couples to have a second child to increase the birth rate in order to stop the country's plummeting population.
Russia's population peaked in the early 1990s (at the time of the end of the Soviet Union) with about 148 million people in the country. Today, Russia's population is approximately 143 million. The United States Census Bureau estimates that Russia's population will decline from the current 143 million to a mere 111 million by 2050, a loss of more than 30 million people and a decrease of more than 20%.
The primary causes of Russia's population decrease and loss of about 700,000 to 800,000 citizens each year are a high death rate, low birth rate, high rate of abortions, and a low level of immigration.
High Death Rate
Russia has a very high death rate of 15 deaths per 1000 people per year. This is far higher than the world's average death rate of just under 9. The death rate in the U.S. is 8 per 1000 and for the United Kingdom it's 10 per 1000. Alcohol-related deaths in Russia are very high and alcohol-related emergencies represent the bulk of emergency room visits in the country.
With this high death rate, Russian life expectancy is low - the World Health Organization estimates the life expectancy of Russian men at 59 years while women's life expectancy is considerably better at 72 years. This difference is primarily a result of high rates of alcoholism among males.
Low Birth Rate
Understandably, due these high rates of alcoholism and economic hardship, women feel less than encouraged to have children in Russia.
Russia's total fertility rate is low at 1.3 births per woman. This number represents the number of children each Russian woman has during her lifetime. A replacement total fertility rate to maintain a stable population is 2.1 births per woman. Obviously, with such a low total fertility rate Russian women are contributing to a declining population.
The birth rate in the country is also quite low; the crude birth rate is 10 births per 1000 people. The world average is just over 20 per 1000 and in the U.S. the rate is 14 per 1000.
Abortion
During the Soviet era, abortion was quite common and was utilized as a method of birth control. That technique remains common and quite popular today, keeping the country's birth rate exceptionally low. According to a Russian news source, there are more abortions than births in Russia.
The online news source mosnews.com reported that in 2004 1.6 million women had abortions in Russia while 1.5 million gave birth. In 2003, the BBC reported that Russia had, "13 terminations for every 10 live births."
Immigration
Additionally, immigration into Russia is low - immigrants are primarily a trickle of ethnic Russians moving out of former republics (but now independent countries) of the Soviet Union. Brain drain and emigration from Russia to Western Europe and other parts of the world is high as native Russians seek to better their economic situation.
Putin himself explored the issues surrounding the low birth rate during his speech, asking "What has prevented a young family, a young woman, from making this decision? The answers are obvious: low incomes, a lack of normal housing, doubts about the level of medical services and quality education. At times, there are doubts about the ability to provide enough food."

HAVANA, Cuba (CWN) - Miguel Sosa Martin, Cuban Secretary for the Family said recently that the dramatic decrease of the birth rate in Cuba "is becoming one of the biggest challenges for our near future."
In a statement to the official daily newspaper Granma, Sosa Martin revealed that the current Cuban birth rate is 0.72 child per woman and that "there are no signs that this will change in the short run."
Cuba experienced a baby boom in the sixties, but "since 1978 Cuban women are not giving birth to enough females to replace them in their reproductive function," said the official.
According to Granma, the increasing poverty of the nation is just one among other causes for the "birth crisis." "The need for women to work full time, birth control methods, and abortion are the most frequent reasons" for the problem, the official daily said.
In Cuba, the only Latin American country in which abortion is free and legal, six of every ten pregnant women had abortions in 1994. According to Cuban demographer Alfonso Farnos, Cuba needs a birth rate of 2.1 children per woman, "otherwise, we will face the problem of an aging society in few years." At present, 10% of the Cuban population is above 60 years old, while in the year 2020, this group will become 28.9% of the population.

Australia's rate of net immigration continues to fall as more people leave Australia and fewer people arrive.
The number of permanent and long-term arrivals still outnumbers departures. However immigration numbers fell to 210,400 people this year, compared to 324,700 the previous year.
In October, there were only 9,370 immigrants who settled in Australia, the lowest since March of 2004.
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The downturn in immigration could have dire consequences for Australia's economy as it heads into another boom.
"Businesses are shaking their heads," Commonwealth Securities economist, Craig James told the Sydney Morning Herald.
"Job markets are tight, with not enough local talent to fill positions," he added. "But while companies are crying out for staff, migrant numbers are plunging."
He said that the annual number of migrants has plunged by a record 35 percent.
"It is in the interests of all Australians to have a balanced job market," he said. "The last thing anyone wants to see is the Reserve Bank keeping interest rates at higher levels than they should be because restrictions on migrant inflows are pushing up wages and prices."
Other statistics show that job advertisements are up 2.9 percent in November of 2010 as business struggle to find skilled labour.
For businesses who need skilled immigration, the future does not bode well. In July of 2011, the Australian government will implement changes to immigration law that will make it harder for certain people, such as tradespeople, to immigrate to Australia.
For businesses looking to hire overseas workers and for people looking to live and work in Australia, applying now may be the best option.