Demographicsdemos – the people

graphy – writing about, recording

DEFINITION: writing about the people

DEMOGRAPHICS – Learning Goals

• Explain concepts related to demography

• Describe population trends in Canada and around the world

• Explain the significance of immigration to Canadian society

• Assess the impact of demographic change

WHY ARE DEMOGRAPHICS IMPORTANT? (BEFORE)

STUDYING GROWING TRENDS

• DEMOGRAPHY – the statistical study of population

• Used in forming public policy, marketing

• Reveals important details about ethnicity, age, gender

• What are important demographic trends that social scientists need to study?

DEMOGRAPHIC CONCEPTS

• Fertility rate – measured using the crude birth rate (the number of live births per 1,000 people per year)

• Mortality rate – measured using the crude death rate (the number of deaths per 1,000 people per year)

• Migration – movement of people into and out of an area

• Analyzed together to measure overall population changes

CONCEPTS, cont’d

• Population Composition – the demographic profile of a population (societies, nations, world religions, other groups)

• Sex Ratio – the number of men per 100 women

• Population Pyramid – population distribution by sex and age

DEMOGRAPHIC THEORIES

Malthusian Theory (Thomas Malthus)

• Factors that control human population are war, famine and disease

• These “positive checks” increased mortality rates

• “preventative checks” such as birth control and celibacy reduced fertility rates

• As population grows exponentially, people would run out of food, causing war over scarce resources and reducing the population

THEORIES, cont’d

Zero-Population Growth (Paul Ehrlich)

• The world is moving toward environmental collapse

• Advocated for a goal of zero population growth (ZPG)

• Support for this idea is mixed but still considered possible

THEORIES, cont’d

Cornucopian Theory

• Asserts that human ingenuity can resolve issues as they develop

• If we need more food, for instance, scientists will find a way to grow more

• Humans have adapted for thousands of years – no reason it will stop

Demographic Transition Theory

• Future population growth will develop along a predictable model• Stage 1 – birth, death, infant mortality rates are all high; life expectancy is

short

• Stage 2 – birth rates are higher; infant mortality and death rates drop while life expectancy increases

• Stage 3 – as society is industrialized, birth rates decline, life expectancy increases and death rates continue to decrease

• Stage 4 – the postindustrial era; birth and death rates are low, people live longer; leads to population stability

POPULATION TRENDS

Canada:

• Population of 34 278 400 (2011)

• Total number of immigrants in 2013: 258,953

• Total number of births in 2013/14: 385,937

• Total number deaths in 2013/14: 256,721

What other trends do you notice? - http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/ind01/l3_3867-eng.htm?hili_none

AFRICA

EUROPE

IMMIGRATION IN CANADA

POPULATION TRENDS, cont’d

CANADA

• http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/as-sa/97-553/vignettes/FamFlash-eng.cfm

THE WORLD

• http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episodes/generation-boomerang

WHY ARE DEMOGRAPHICS IMPORTANT? (AFTER)