IB Geography Population notes

Geography Test Notes: Population Trends, Fertility, Migration and Gender inequality

1.3.1.1: Analyze trends and patterns in population using relevant case studies and indicators

World Population Growth

Worlds population growing very rapidly
Population growth is geometric but food production is arithmetic
Growth is very recent
95% of population growth is taking place in LEDCs
Exponential growth—increasing or accelerating rate of growth
It has started going down due to the fertility rate
This has led to more elderly people in the world

Global population growth creates:
Great pressure on governments to provide for their people
Increased pressure on the environment
Increased risk on famine and malnutrition
Greater difference between the richer and poorer countries
AIDs also having a lasting impact in developing countries as it causes a population decline
Crude birth rate does not take into account the age and sex structure of population
Total fertility rate—average number of children a woman would have if she expended the current age-specific fertility rates through her life time, and she were to survive through child birth.
The poorest countries have the highest fertility rates
In developed countries, birth rates, and fertility rates have fallen
Birth rate—the number of births per 1000 in a population
Birth rates get high because
Parents want children for labour
To look after them in old age
To continue the family name
For prestige
To replace other children who have died
Children are net contributors to family income
Birth rates go down because
Children are costly
The government looks after people through pension and health services
More women want their own career and have higher status
There is widespread use of family planning
Infant mortality goes down so there is a less need for replacement children
A decline in traditional beliefs and customs

Birth rates can be tested differently
Crude birth rate—the number of births per 1000 in a population
Age-specific birth rate—the number of births per 1000 women of any specified year group
Standardized birth rate—a birth rate for a region on the basis that its age composition is the same as for the whole country
Fertility rates can be tested differently
General fertility rate—the number of births per 1000 women aged 15—49 years
Total fertility rate—the average number of births per 1000 women of childbearing age
Death rates are high when there is a lack of clean water and food, poor hygiene and sanitation, overcrowding, contagious diseases such as diarrhea and vomiting and respiratory infections
Conditions associated with poverty
Therefore death rates are highest in poor rural areas, shanty towns, refugee camps and areas of relative and absolute poverty
Death rates decline when there is:
Clean water
A reliable food supply
Good hygiene and sanitation
Lower population densities
Better vaccination and health care
In short, rising standards of living
Authorities can reduce death rates by providing access to clean water, food, shelter and sanitation
Crude death rate—the number of deaths per 1000 people in a population
This is a poor indicator because populations with a large number of aged will have a higher CDR despite being an MEDC
Infant mortality rate and child mortality rate is also used for the demographics of a country
Infant mortality rate—number of deaths per 1000 people who are under one year old
Child mortality rate—number of deaths per 1000 people who are from 1 to 5 years old
Mortality areas are higher among areas of poverty
Child mortality rate has fluctuations unlike infant morality rate
High IMRs in poorest countries
Causes of infant deaths are often preventable so its an effective testing method
Relies on safe water supply, adequate sanitation, housing, healthcare and nutrition
Life expectancy is also used to measure the demographics
This rate has been steadily rising but in Africa is has been slow because of the rise of HIV/AIDS
Higher standards of living and near-eradication of infectious diseases
People will live longer and people born in rich countries are expected to live into their early 100s and late 90s
Diseases and illnesses also cared for better as they are diagnosed early and get better treatment
As a country develops, the major forms of illness and death change
LEDCs have a high proportion of infectious diseases that are waterborne or vector-borne
MEDCs have degenerative conditions such as cancer, strokes or heart disease
Higher the life expectancy, higher the crude death rate
Poorer people have higher mortality rates
Some diseases such as military or mining have hazardous and can lead to diseases and higher mortality rate
Population structure tell us a great deal about the age and sex structure of a population
Different organizations can use them
Can tell growth to
The things to look out for are:
A wide base suggests a high birth rate
A narrowing base suggests a falling birth rate
Straight or near-vertical sides show a low death rate
A concave slope suggests a high death rate
Bulges in the slope indicate high rates of in-migration
Deficits in slope show out-migration or age-specific or sex-specific deaths
Progressive—Stationary—Regressive
Population Structure—any measurable characteristic of the population. This includes the age, sex, ethnicity, language, religion and occupation of population
Growth rate is annual percentage change in population and it is either positive or negative

It changes due to a surplus or deficit of births over deaths and also depends on migrants
This helps countries decide the needs of its people in terms of infrastructure (schools, hospitals, housing, roads), resources and jobs.
Methods used to measure growth rates include:
Doubling Time—the length of time it takes for a population to double in size
Population momentum—tendency for population to grow despite a fall in birth rate or fertility rates or for a tendency for the population to continue to fall despite a rise in the birth rate
Population projections—predictions about future population based on trends in fertility, mortality and migration

GEO 1.3.1.2 Evaluate national responses to high and low fertility

In some countries fertility is high while in other it is too low and the government attempts to solve these problems
The dependency ratio measures the working population and the dependent population
Population aged 64/Population aged 16—64
Crude because many stay at school after 15 and work after 64
In developed world there is a high proportion of elderly
Older dependency ratio measures the number of people aged 65 and over for every 100 people aged 20 to 64.
In developing world there is a high proportion of youth
An ageing population has advantages such as:
Skills ad training
Social skills
Granny culture—take care of the youth
Important to markets of holiday companies or health care

High fertility during one generation leads to an ageing population
Improvements in healthcare also bringing down death rates
Pension systems and health services will have a huge strain because of this trend
Europe has 23 of the worlds oldest 25 countries
Glaring contrast between life expectancy of rich and poor countries
Advantages of youthful population include:
Large potential workforce
Lower medical costs
Attractive to new investment
Source of new innovation and ideas
Development of services for selected goods
Disadvantages of youthful population include
Cost of supporting schools and clinics
Need to provide sufficient food, housing and water
High rates of unemployment
Large number in poor quality houses
High rates of population growth
High crime rates
Since 1945 Japan’s birth and death rates have decreased
This has introduced problems such as
Inadequate nursing facilities
Depletion of the labor force
Deterioration of the economy
A trade deficit
Migration of Japanese industry to overseas
Cost of funding pensions and healthcare
Falling demand for schools and teachers
New jobs needed for elderly
New leisure facilities needed for elderly
Increase in in the burden on the working population
Need for in-migration
Governments either want to increase population size (pro-natalist) or decrease it (anti-natalist)
Family planning methods include pill, condoms, forced sterilization, abortion or infanticide
In 1960s, Romania was approaching zero population growth
Bad for labor supply and industrialization
Abortion on demand banned with serious penalties
Special tax for people who had no kids after 25
Divorce difficult
Family allowances raised and monetary awards for mothers for birth of third child
Tax rate reduced for parents
Drastic improvement of growth rate of 92.8%
Led to other problems such as infant mortality rates
Trends returned to what they were before as police lost interest
In India, the fertility is too high so the government is attempting to reduce it
Large problem of foeticide
Gender-based abortion a big problem
Daughter is considered a loss and son as asset
Daughter—dowry and son—inherit property and care for parents
Unmarried young men turning to crime
Violence against women
Purchase of brides
Child policies and access to family planning and education

GEO 1.3.1.3 Discuss the causes of and responses to internal and international migration

Migration is the movement of people, involving a permanent (more than a year) change of residence. It can be internal or external, and voluntary or forced.
Most voluntary migrants are people moving for:
Work (true for young people)
To retire (true for rich old people)
Seeking a better life in a smaller urban area as compared to a big urban area
Educational or health reasons
Forced migrations may be due to:
Civil conflict
Environmental damage
Persecution
Migrations are commonly divided into a number of types:
Forced or voluntary
Long distance or short distance
International or internal
Most migrants proceed over a short distance due to limited technology/transport and poor communications, people know more about local opportunities
Migration occurs in a series of steps or stages (rural to small town to large town to city)
Migration also involves movement away from large cities. The rich move away from urban areas to small communities.
Long-distance migrants are more likely to go to large cities for job opportunities.
Rural dwellers migrate more since there are fewer opportunities in rural areas.
Women are more migratory than men over short distances, especially for marriage in societies where the status of women is low
Migration increases with advances in technology such as transport, communications, and spread of information
Number of migrants going to a place was proportional to the number of opportunities at that location
Remittances—transfer of money or goods by foreign workers to their home countries.
Migration can also be described in terms of push and pull factors
Push factors are negative features that cause a person to move away from a place:
Unemployment
Low wages
Natural hazards
Pull factors are the attractions (real or imagined) that exist at another place:
Better wages
Safety
More jobs
Good schools
Often times pull factors are perceived or imagined
International migration can have a range of positive and negative impacts on both the source area and the destination
Some economies could not function without foreign workers such as UAE as migrants make up 85% of the population
Migrants fill jobs often because they lack skills or have skills
LEDCs are losing their skilled professionals as they look for opportunities elsewhere.
Health sector is most effected
Such countries that experience a brain drain rely on remittances
Educated migrants are overqualified for their jobs
Brain drains occur because
They want higher living standards
Better career opportunities
Positive impacts of international migration on source area include:
Population pressure reduced
Remittances
Negative impacts of international migration on source area include:
Removal of younger, more educated people
Decline in local market/pulling power
Reduced workforce
Closure of local services such as schools
Positive impacts of international migration on destination include:
Population growth
Larger workforce
Increased demand for housing
Increased demand for services
New industry and investment attracted to the area
New skilled young work force
Multicultural environment
Economic growth because the workforce is increased and it has been proved that there is a correlation between migration and the nation’s GDP. They also tend to create jobs rather than take them allowing locals to also be employed.
They help fill the job gaps at both a skilled and unskilled level. Germany has a very small workforce so they need educated immigrants to come into the country. Many locals also go to college and seek an education so there is no one left to do the unskilled labor, which is also why some countries depend on immigrants. This is crucial during times where there is or there is not economic growth

Negative impacts of international migration on destination include:
Racism and segregation
Cultural disharmony
Overcrowding and ghettoization
Spread of disease
Migrant workers are those who migrate to find work
Migrant labor is important to many MEDCs
Migrant workers move for better working conditions in terms of pay and benefits
Freedom of movement in EU so nationals of any EU country can migrate to one another
Economic costs of source country include:
Loss of young labor
Loss of skilled labor
Less investment
Economic benefits of source country include;
Reduced unemployment
Returning migrants bring back new skills
Remittances
Less pressure on resources such as land
Social costs of source country include:
Creates a culture of out-migration
Unbalanced population pyramid
Social benefits of source country include:
Lower birth rates and reduced population pressure
Remittances may improve education and welfare
Retiring population may build new homes
Economic costs of destination country include:
Cost of educating children
Displacement of local labor
Money sent to country of origin
Increased pressure on resources
Economic benefits of destination country include
Undesirable posts often filled
Skills gained at little cost
Retirement costs transferred to destination country
Social costs of destination country include:
Racism
Male dominated states
Loss of cultural identity
Ghettos created
Social benefits of destination country include:
Multicultural societies
Cultural awareness
Providers of local services
Growth of ethnic services (restaurants)
Example of forced migration are refugees
This is a person who is fleeing their hope in order to escape danger
They are asylum seekers before they become refugee
If you enter another country without the state’s approval you are an illegal immigrant
An economic migrant seeks job opportunities
IDPs are displaced in their own nation but ran away from home
For a refugee, push factors include:
Environmental deterioration
State persecution
Natural disasters
Wars

GEO 1.3.1.4 Critically evaluate key factors that contribute to gender inequalities

The achievement of equality between men and women implies that they should have equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities to enable them to develop their talent and capabilities for their own personal fulfillment and the benefit of society
Women’s empowerment can be divided into reproductive control, violence and abuse, employment, freedom, access to education
Reproductive control:
In some countries, women have no control over the amount of kids they themselves will have
This is often decided by the mother-in-law or the husband
Since sons are so much sought after, women are sometimes forced to have multiple children
This is often more than they can handle
Girls are usually killed and this also puts mothers in danger which lessens their life expectancy
Unfortunately, this is Indian culture
Mutilated genitals which leads to disease
Violence and abuse
In Islamic countries mostly, women are subject to violence such as rape and domestic violence
IN countries such as Saudi Arabia, women can be killed by their husband for even talking to another man
It takes 4 adult males to tell the judge if a women is raped if she decides to press charges and so, the rapist gets away with it
Economic opportunities
Women are often disadvantaged when it comes to economic opportunities
They receive less pay for men even if they are doing more work
If they have access to credit they are empowered as they are placed in a decision making position
If they have a land title, they can use it as collateral to apply for a loan
Many women fail to break the glass ceiling because of inconveniences such as childcare is too expensive and that they are not flexible hours in management
Freedom
In many countries, women do not have rights
In Saudi Arabia, they cannot talk to other men, drive a car, leave the house without a male escort
They must wear a hijab
In African and Muslim countries they are expected to stay home and care for the kids
Do not have a say on who they will marry
Access to education
Many people such as extremists believe that women are not entitled to education
Burn women with acid in Afghanistan if they attempt to go to school
Interpret Quran in that way
For this reason, there are many abortions of girls as they are considered liabilities
In China many women internally migrate looking for jobs but are ill-treated
Gender Development Index measures gender equality
It finds the average of:
Longevity: female and male life expectancy at birth
Knowledge—female and male literacy rates and school enrollment ratios
Income per capita—male and female income
This can be compared to HDI, the closer they are, the more equal genders are
Another tool is the Gender Empowerment measure which uses
Political participation—number of seats held by women in parliament
Economic participation—Female in executive roles in a firm or company
Power over economic resources—income earned by females as compared to that of men