GET THAT GRADE!
Unit 02
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Topic Task 2
Population

Population growth (and decline)

You must be able to define
• Birth rate
• Death rate
• Rate of population growth - given as %
• Infant mortality
• Life expectancy

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Remember that birth rate and death rate are given as births or deaths per thousand (‰) per year

You must also know the following:
• factors that affect the death rate
• factors that affect the birth rate

Remember that birth rate in a country is the result of many decisions. Couples have to decide:
• when to marry or start a relationship
• whether to use any form of family planning
• whether they can afford to have children
• whether they can afford not to have children
• how much they are influenced by the views of parents, friends, religious leaders, etc.

In some countries government policies are designed to influence these decisions.

Although the above points refer to the decisions taken by 'couples', it is often the woman's views that are most important.
These will be affected by:
• her level of education
• whether she is able to work and develop a career
• her status within her society

Be prepared to discuss this in your exam.

You need to learn examples or case studies of some or all of the following:
• a country with high birth rate and falling death rate
• a country with a low death rate and medium but falling birth rate
• a country with low birth rate and low death rate
• a country with policies to cut the birth rate. (You may be able to learn two examples - one where the state punishes people who have too many children and another where benefits are offered to people who only have a small family.)
• a country where birth rate is so low that the population is falling and/or ageing rapidly.

For each example you learn you should be aware of the CAUSES and EFFECTS of the changes you have observed.

Six types of population are listed here, but you do not need to learn six case studies. Choose your case studies so that the country with low birth rate and low death rate is also the one that has an ageing population - and so on. Choose your case studies as efficiently as possible, to reduce the time and effort needed.

You should then learn the Demographic Transition Model. This is given on page 16 of the Get That Grade! book. Click here for a blank copy of the model, then try to complete it as clearly, concisely and accurately as possible.

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Remember: birth rate and death rate are both shown as ‰, not %.

When you have finished, check your answers against the copy of the model in the book. Learn from your mistakes. Then complete another blank copy, but this time you should get more of it right!


If you are entered for the H tier, in your exam you may be given a copy of the demographic transition model with blanks in it and be asked to fill these in from memory. In an F tier exam you are more likely to be given several possible answers and then have to choose the correct ones to go in each blank. So F tier candidates need to do less memorising.

Population change is also influenced by migration into the country (immigration) and out of the country (emigration). These are dealt with in more detail later.

Population structure
Population pyramids are drawn to show the percentage of a country's population in different age/sex 'cohorts'. The horizontal bars on a population pyramid usually represent cohorts (or groups) of five or ten years.

You cannot hope to remember the exact details of any country's population structure, so learn the shapes of the pyramids sketched at the bottom of the demographic transition model on page 16 of the Get That Grade! book. Learn to draw each one quickly and accurately, and learn what the shape of each one represents.

Remember that:
• a wide base represents a high birth rate
• steeply sloping sides represent a high death rate
• a tall pyramid means a high life expectancy
• when the pyramid narrows at the base it means that the birth rate has recently fallen
• when the pyramid widens at the top it represents an ageing population
• if there is a gap in one or two cohorts on the male side, it often means a war has taken place, or it might mean that young men have migrated away to find work
• if there is a gap on the female side, especially near the base, it may mean that there is a lot of female infanticide, because people feel that sons are more valuable to them

One very important idea connected with population structure is the dependency ratio. This shows the proportion of people of working age in relation to the proportion of people too young or too old to work.

The idea of dependency ratio should be linked back to the work you did on population growth and decline. The case studies that you learnt then should also illustrate dependency ratio.

Migration
People migrate to seek a better life. When you study migration remember to learn about:
• pushes - the bad things that make people want to leave a place
• pulls - the good things that attract them to the new area
• anchors and barriers - factors that make moving difficult. Anchors tie people down to their old area. Barriers are factors that make the move difficult.

For at least one major migration you should know a case study. Learn three or four 'pushes', three or four 'pulls', and two or three 'anchors/barriers'.

You may find it useful to make notes on a drawing or diagram like the one below. It may seem an odd thing to do, but sometimes a sketch or a similar prompt can help you to remember an idea or fact in the exam - even if it makes you groan while you're doing it!

Click on the image to see a larger version

When you write about 'pushes' and 'pulls' try to avoid writing direct opposites. Develop your answers. For example, someone who wrote:

'Push' - there were no jobs in the countryside.
'Pull' - there were lots of jobs in the town.

would only get one mark.

However, their classmate who wrote:

'Push' - there were only irregular, poorly-paid jobs in the countryside.
'Pull' - there were better-paid jobs in factories in the town.

would probably get two marks. The full four marks would go to someone who wrote:

'Push'- there were only irregular, poorly-paid jobs in the countryside because farmers were mechanising.

Migration can be for economic or social reasons. It can be forced or voluntary; temporary or permanent; legal or illegal; international or internal. Another important form of migration is rural-to-urban but that is more common in LEDCs, whilst in MEDCs counterurbanisation is becoming more common. You should be able to refer to examples of all of these.

You can save time by using multi-purpose case studies. For example, someone who leaves a village in Mexico to go and work in Los Angeles could well be a voluntary, temporary, illegal, international, rural-to-urban migrant who is moving for economic reasons!