Demographic Trends in the UK Since 1900 (AQA A Level Sociology): Flashcards

The changing role of women has reduced the birth rate because greater access to education, employment, contraception and abortion means many women now prioritise careers and personal development over early motherhood.

Gillespie identified a rise in voluntary childlessness, especially in developed countries.

The dependency ratio is the relationship between the working-age population and the non-working dependent population (children and retirees).

True.

Fewer dependent children means less demand for schools, maternity services and other child-related services.

Wilkinson (1994) refers to a 'genderquake': a shift in attitudes where women no longer see motherhood as a central obligation.

The New Right interprets the declining birth rate as a sign of moral decay and the weakening of traditional family values.

The death rate is the number of deaths per 1,000 of the population per year.

The falling death rate has contributed to population growth and significantly to the ageing population.

Life expectancy is the average number of years a person born in a given year can expect to live.

Life expectancy in the UK varies by region: people living in the north of England and Scotland have lower life expectancy than those in the south.

McKeown argued that better nutrition accounted for up to half of the reduction in death rates from 1850 to 1970.

False.

Smoking rates have dropped dramatically, from over 40% in the 1970s to 11.9% in 2023, as people adopted healthier lifestyles.

McKeown's nutrition explanation is hard to apply to gender because it is hard to explain why females, who generally receive a smaller share of the family food supply, live longer than males.

The founding of the NHS in 1948 provided universal access to free healthcare.

Medical advances that helped reduce death rates include antibiotics, vaccinations and blood transfusions.

Public health measures reduced death rates because measures such as clean water supplies, sanitation and the Clean Air Act (1956) reduced waterborne illnesses and respiratory diseases.

The decline in dangerous manual labour reduced workplace-related deaths.

More generations being alive at the same time has contributed to the rise of the beanpole family.

False.

These households are mainly women, who tend to live longer than men; Chambers (2012) calls this the 'feminisation of later life'.

Rising life expectancy can increase unpaid care in families because, as more people survive into old age, families, often women, may take on the unpaid care of elderly relatives.

Hirsch argues that longer lives create challenges such as funding pensions and adapting housing to the needs of older people.

Pilcher argues that the benefits of longer life are not shared equally because working-class and female pensioners often have lower incomes than middle-class men.

An ageing population means that the average age is increasing and a growing proportion of the population is aged 65 and over.

A declining fertility rate means fewer young people are born, which increases the proportion of older people in the population.

Medical and social advances mean people are living longer, so rising life expectancy drives population ageing.

True.

This shift creates social, economic and policy-related consequences, such as rising demand for pensions and health care.

The dependency ratio is the relationship between the working-age population and the non-working dependent population (children and retirees).

An ageing population puts pressure on working people because they fund pensions, welfare and healthcare through taxation for a growing number of economically dependent older people.

The state has raised the state pension age to 66, with plans to increase it to 67 by 2028.

An ageing population increases public spending because older people make greater use of health and social care services, such as the NHS and home care, increasing demand.

Chambers called the rise in older women living alone the 'feminisation of later life'.

A beanpole family has fewer children but more surviving generations, e.g. grandparents, parents and children; Brannen (2003) links it to population ageing.

True.

Elderly relatives often provide childcare, supporting working parents and strengthening intergenerational bonds.

Blaikie meant that later life has become a time of leisure and consumption, as many older people are healthy and financially independent.

Hirsch links an ageing population to adapting housing, rethinking working life and retirement, and funding pensions and social care.

The modernist perspective views old age as a time of decline and dependency, as identity is linked to a person's role in production.

Postmodernists argue that consumption, not production, defines a person's social role in later life.

False.

Pilcher argues old age brings inequality: working-class pensioners have lower life expectancy and pensions, and women have lower pensions after lower lifetime earnings.

Net migration is the difference between immigration and emigration in a country over time.

Push factors are conditions that encourage people to leave their home country, e.g. conflict, poverty or persecution.

Two examples of pull factors are higher wages and job opportunities and political stability and safety.

True.

Net migration peaked at 944,000 in the year ending March 2023 and has since fallen sharply.

A points-based system shapes migration by prioritising migrants with in-demand skills; e.g. Australia favours teachers, nurses and plumbers.

Migration affects the dependency ratio because migrants are typically of working age, which helps to reduce the dependency ratio.

False.

Over time, migrant birth rates tend to converge with the host population, reducing their long-term impact on population growth.

Gilroy argued that the matriarchal structure of African-Caribbean families stems from historical legacies like the slave trade and is different, not deficient.

Berthoud found that Asian families have strong extended family ties, low divorce rates and a high value placed on marriage.

Platt found that African-Caribbean people are the most likely group to intermarry, particularly with white partners.

Eade (1994) suggests young British Asians develop layered, hybrid identities, e.g. Muslim first, Bangladeshi second and British third.

Globalisation is the growing interconnectedness between societies and the removal of national barriers, enabling freer movement of people, goods and ideas.

The feminisation of migration means that women make up a growing share of migrants, often working in care, domestic services, healthcare and hospitality.

Differentiation refers to the greater diversity of migrant types, such as permanent settlers, students, refugees and undocumented economic migrants.

False.

Transnational migrants keep strong links to more than one country and may develop a more fluid, global sense of belonging.

Assimilation policies aim to make migrants adopt the host country's norms and abandon their cultural distinctiveness.

Castles argues that assimilation is counterproductive because it leads to marginalisation.

Castles and Kosack (1973) suggest assimilation encourages racist scapegoating, e.g. over unemployment.