APES Chapter 6

What is the age structure of a population? Explain how it affects population growth and economic growth.

Age structure is the numbers or percentages of males and females in young, middle, and older age groups. With more individuals in the middle age group, or the reproductive age group, populations will see more growth due to increased reproduction and birth rates, and with individuals of only certain age groups (mostly those in the middle or younger part of the older group) being able to perform certain jobs to provide economic growth, having more individuals in those areas of an age structure will fuel economic growth.

Distinguish between crude birth rate and crude death rate.

Crude birth rate is the number of births per 1000 individuals in a population in a given year, and crude death rate is the number of deaths per 1000 individuals in a population in a given year.

What is the demographic transition? List the social, biological, political and economic issues that can be addressed to help developing countries undergo a demographic transition.

Demographic transition is the idea that as countries become industrialized and economically developed, first their death rates decline and then their birth rates decline. • Social issues to be addressed: o Child labor o Rape o Sexism o Shortage of employees (scientists, engineers, etc.) o Lack of education • Biological Issues: o Disease control/medical treatment o Lack of clean water o Lack of food o Destructive land management • Political Issues: o Terrorism o Corrupt/weak government o Weak military/form of resistance o Foreign debt • Economic Issues: o Foreign debt o Insufficient capital o Availability of insurance

Define life expectancy and infant mortality rate and how they affect the population size of a country. Why does the U.S. have a lower life expectancy and higher infant mortality rate than a number of other countries?

Life expectancy is the average number of years a newborn can be expected to live, and infant mortality rate is the number of babies out of every 1000 born that die before their first birthday. If life expectancy is higher, population sizes will increase as more infants are born, where as if mortality rate is higher, population sizes will decrease as more infants die. The U.S. has a lower life expectancy rate due to our unhealthy diets and the high risk activities (such as driving) we're exposed to daily, and a higher infant mortality rate due to our lack of medical care for poor women, drug addiction, and teenage pregnancies.

Distinguish between replacement-level fertility rate and total fertility rate. List 5 factors that affect birth and fertility rates and 5 factors that affect death rates.

Replacement level fertility rate is the average number of children that couples in a population must bear to replace themselves, while total fertility rate is the average number of children born to women in a population during their reproductive years. The importance of children as a part of the labor force, the cost of raising children, the availability of public pension systems, infant deaths, and urbanization