Population Growth

Population Growth compare and contrast between Jamaica and the US
This is an essay which will focus on population growth, its factors and how these factors affect countries. There will be a comparison and contrast as it relates to two countries the United States of America and Jamaica. The United States of America is a country which is developed because there are certain infrastructures while Jamaica is a third world Caribbean country. Factors influencing population growth of these two countries will be look on such as birth rate, death rate, migration and natural increase. Population is the number of people living in a particular area. However Population growth refers to how the number of individuals in a population increases (or decreases) with time. The population growth is determined by the rate at which new individuals are added to the population (the birth rate, the death rate and migration). The population of the world is increasing at a surprising rate since the 19th century. This is so because population changes because of growth. The population grew so fast that many people thought that the worlds resources would not be adequate to sustain the size of the population. there has been a number of efforts to stem this, but despite these measures some countries still have large growing population. The Birthrate is the number of live births per one thousand population, it is usually a dominate factor in determining the rate of population growth. The birthrate depends on the fertility rate and the age structure of the population. The fertility rate refers to the number of children an average woman will have in her lifetime. Some social factors which affect the birthrate in a country are the lack of education and teenage pregnancy. In Jamaica when persons lack certain knowledge they become in need. In the US there are much more opportunities for women and girls where they are empowered to have a good education so that they can get a job. A lot of Jamaican woman would say that they weren't able to finish school because of a lack of funds. Teenage pregnancy can cause the birth rate to increase. In both Jamaica and the US teenage pregnancy shows an effect where a lot of teens become pregnant. Many of them during school so they "drop out of school" just because of their pregnancy. Jamaica's Birth rate is at 1.9% while the US is higher at 14.5%. These figures express how high the birth rate is in both countries. Jamaica's fertility rate 1970-75 is at 5.0 and 2000-05 at 2.4 while for the US There fertility rate 1970-75 is at 2.0 and 2000-05 at 2.1. When the birth rate is high sometimes parents neglect their children and the state has to take custardy of that child. This causes a strain on the finances of the government. In Jamaica this can be seen, however, in the USA depending on the state the law of custardy ranges. Culturally Jamaican men are considered to be "gallis" when they are in many relationships which most times children are born a lot. However, religion has had an influence on the birthrate where as in birth control use is not accepted by the Roman Catholic. The US has a greater influence of many religions than Jamaica. The death rate is another factor which affects population growth. Death rate is the number of deaths per one thousand people in the population. In a young population it is usually low. However, if there is a high population of old people the death rate is high this is because the longer they live the more likely they are to die at a higher rate. the death rate also depends on life expectancy which is the number of years which the average person can expect to live for. Medical care has improved over the years which results in a longer life expectancy. The US has a high death at 0.85% while Jamaica's death rate is also high. Migration is also a factor which affects population growth. Migration is when you leave your country and go settle in another (emigration) or to come into a foreign country to live permanently (immigration). Where people leave a country this reduces population growth while migration into a country increases population growth. A lot of Jamaicans migrate to the US, Canada, Britain and other Caribbean countries. However, the US has a large number of immigrants which often start new families who contribute to the birth rate. Natural increase contributes to population growth, it is the difference between birth and death rates. Jamaica's natural increase is 1.3% while the US is at 0.6%.