Ch 4 Geron 161 Demographic perspectives on an aging world

notes

- 1st stage transition is related to mortality (the rate of death in a society) why did mortality decrease? because people moved to more industrialized mode of production where they gained control over infectious diseases, improved the availability of clean water, and saw the emergence of more advanced medical technology. -Why did fertility begin to decrease? because once people were moved to more industrialized cities, they realized that larger families were no longer necessary for agricultural labor and in fact were a financial drain in a wage economy. - 2nd stage transition phase is, the lag between mortality decline and fertility decline (it set the stage for rapid population growth). -why is there an unbalance of more men than women in the U.S. working? due to the immigration of thousands ofd people from Asia and other parts of the Middle East to work in the oil fields. these workers are nearly always men who migrate into the UAE without their families, skewing gender distribution in these age ranges. - in the majority of places women live longer but in few places men live longer, why is that? in Southern Africa, life expectancy for men is 55 and for women is 54. the smaller or reversed gender difference in longevity in the developing nations is due primarily to maternal mortality-deaths among women during pregnancy and childbearing. - compared to more developed countries, older people in developing regions of the world remain economically active longer, partly because pensions are less likely to be available, and id available, they provide relatively little income.

population aging

- Is unprecedented, pervasive, enduring, and has profound implications for many facets of human life. - refers to the social and demographic processes that result in the aging of a population- the transition to an age structure with increasing numbers and proportions of older people and decreasing proportions at the youngest ages. -occurs when larger numbers of people survive into old age and relatively few children are born. -with sustained low mortality and low fertility, population aging occurs.

types of pyramids

- True pyramid: also known as fast-growth shape, is characteristic of young countries with high fertility and high mortality such as Swaziland, a small nation in Southern Africa. - Rectangular pyramid: or no growth, pyramid shows the effects of sustained, very low fertility and very low mortality, as is projected for Germany. - the third classic pyramid shape is a slow-growth, beehive-shaped pyramid; it represents a transition stage between the true pyramid and a rectangular pyramid. this shape was seen for the U.S. reflecting a pattern of low mortality and fertility. - some demographers have narrowest have suggested a fourth pattern: the collapsing or inverted pyramid, which is narrowest at the base. the bottom half of the pyramid for Germany has this shape, and it is possible that Germany will eventually have an inverted pyramid, if current levels of extremely low fertility continue.

demographic transition theory

- a set of interrelated social and demographic changes that result in both rapid growth and aging of a population. -

dependency ratio

- are measures of the proportion of a population that falls within age categories traditionally thought to be economically dependent: traditionally those under age 15 and over the age 64. in some calculations of dependency ratios, in western nations, age 18 is used instead of age 15 but international comparisons still use age 15. issue can be taken with the definition of anyone under the age 15 or over age 64 as automatically being economically dependent, especially in countries where people enter the labor force long before the age 15 and sometimes stay long after age 65. - the aged dependency ratio is similar to proportion aged and to the aging index but is calculated and interpreted in a different way. the proportion aged in a society is simply the number of older people divided by the total population (including the old). the aged dependency ration is the number of older people divided by the number of people ages 15 and 64. most often it is translated into the number of workers in a society it takes to support each older person. - Swaziland has the highest total dependency ratio of 121 children and older adults for every 100 working-age citizens. it has more dependents than workers. - Countries such as U.S. , Germany, and Japan have roughly 10 working-age people for every 6 or 7 dependent persons.

Population Pyramid

- is a graphic illustration of the age and gender structure of a population. it shows the percentage or number of people within a total population that falls into selected age and gender categories. - are truly pictures worth a thousand words. they capture and illustrate at a glance many past, present, and future demographic trends. - Only 3 demographic forces directly determine the shape of a pyramid: fertility, mortality, and migration.

Demographic divide

- it captures some significant patterns in population aging and social change. - refers to the distinction between countries with low birthrates and high life expectancies (aging populations with slow or no growth), and those with high birthrates, significant growth, and comparatively young populations. - this divide is defined by demographic patterns, but it coincides with the more/less/least developed designations discussed in ch 1.

fallacy of the demographic imperative

- one common trap is to assume that the demography of aging, as compelling as it might be, will attract popular attention and spur policies and planning for aging populations. One key to avoid this fallacy is to keep in mind that "demography is not destiny". - Larger numbers of older people do not compel a particular course of action. In fact, those numbers could be used to promote very different courses of action.

the world's older population age 65 and older increased by approximately how many people each month in 2008?

870,000 the estimated change in the total size of the world's older population between July 2007 and July 2008 was more than 10.4 million people, an average of 870,000 each month.

How do you think the population in your country will age in the future?

?

Do you think aging will be good or bad for your community? Why?

Aging is a normal part of life. Personally, I feel as if it is a good thing in the sense that the elderly can contribute to the community in different ways such as volunteering or even still working. There are many things the younger populations could learn from the older people. Families will be bigger and soon grandparents will be able to see 4th generation grand children.

How has population aging affected your country?

In US. baby boomers has sparked the emergence of more and more active adult communities, widespread marketing campaigns for so-called lifestyle pharmaceuticals and ethical debates about end-of-life medical treatment.

Japan is currently the world's oldest country. What does that mean? How does it affect Japan's Families, economy, and health care system?

Japan has the oldest proportion age of 65 and older. by 2050, Japan is predicted to have a population In which one in five citizens is more than one-third older people.

Which country had the world's highest percentage of older people in 2008?

Japan with 22% of its population aged 65 and over, has recently supplemented Italy as the world's oldest major country

there are more older widows than widowers in virtually all countries because:

all of them; older women are more likely to be widowed because women live longer than men, women typically marry men older than themselves, men are more likely to remarry after divorce or the death of a spouse.

median age

are single numbers that are often used in conjunction with other measures of population aging. is the midpoint of a range of numbers-the point at which one half of cases falls above and one half falls below. page 91 has examples of countries.

prospective age

based on life expectancy, is the average number of remaining years of life for a person. Researchers suggest that this measure can be more meaningful than chronological age (how many years a person has already lived) for understanding population aging.

china has the world's largest total population more than 1.3 billion. which country has the worlds largest oldest population?

china also has the largest older population; It currently numbers about 120 million

t or f more than one half of the world's older people live in the industrialized nations of Europe, North America, Japan, and Australia

false although industrialized nations have higher percentages of older people than do most developing countries, 62 percent of all people aged 65 and over now live in the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and oceania.

t or f in developing countries, older men are more likely that older women to be illiterate

false older women are less likely to be illiterate. for example, data from china's 2000 census revealed that 26% of older women could read and write, compared to 66% of older men.

demographic dividend

is a different and interesting perspective on these changes. refers to the positive economic impacts and potential benefits a nation might experience during the demographic transition. Fertility rates decline, and the young people already born are very likely to survive to become path of the adult labor force-a change that may enhance progress toward economic development. Pg. 83 -some scholars postulate a second demographic dividend, as countries move into later stages of the demographic transition. as society ages, the population becomes concentrated in the older working ages, as is the case today in the U.S. and many European countries. -third and perhaps the most important dividend of more years for individuals is an extended opportunity for personal experience, growth, wisdom, and productivity.

life expectancy

is another measure of population aging. refers to the average length of time the members of a population can expect to live. It is not the same as life span.

Aging Index

is the ration of older people age 60+ to children under the age of 15. it is a straightforward measure of the age structure of a population showing how many older people there are for every 100 children. by 2030 nearly all of the more developed countries of the world will have an aging index of 100 or more indicating that there will be one older person for every child under age 15. more developed countries have a higher aging index that less developed countries.

summary that illustrates that the increase in the size and proportion of the older population has an impact on every aspect of social life.

page 97

life span

refers to a theoretical biological maximum length of life that could be achieved under ideal conditions. there are calculations for the life span of different animal species that can be raised in those optimal conditions, but for humans it is neither ethical nor practical to control the environment. For humans, the maximum possible life span is gauged by using the most recent reliable data on how long a single individual has actually lived. 120 years is the estimated lifespan.

in which country are older people least likely to live alone?

the Philippines. the percentage of older people living alone in developing countries is usually much lower than that in developed countries; levels in the latter may exceed 40%

which of the various measures of a population's age seems most useful to you?

the seven commonly used indicators of population aging are population pyramids, proportion aged, median age, life expectancy, the aging index dependency ratios, and prospective age.

what proportion of the world's countries have a public old-age security program?

three fourths because as of 2004, 167 countries/areas of the world 74% reported having some form of an old-age/disability/survivals program. in many cases, program coverage is limited to certain occupational subgroups.

t or f the worlds children age 5 outnumber people aged 65 and over.

true although the world's population is aging rapidly, children still outnumber older people. projections indicarte, however, that in fewer than 5 years, older people will outnumber children for the first time in history.

t or f today, average life expectancy at birth is less than 45 years in some countries

true in some African countries where the HIV/AIDS epidemic is particularly devastating, average life expectancy at birth is less than 45 years.