Discuss the extent to which the demographic features of fertility, mortality,migration free essay sample

?Introduction Demographic features of fertility, mortality, migration, marriage and social mobility can impact on development of the society. Development is undisputedly a multi- dimensional and multi-faceted concept which influences and influenced by a varied host of factors and demographic features. The term ‘‘demographic features’’ spring from demography which means the study of human population, including their size, composition, distribution, densities, growth and other characteristics as well as the causes and consequences of change in these factors. It is interesting to note that change in development goes hand in hand with change in various demographic features. This essay therefore is an effort to discuss the extent to which demographic features of fertility, mortality, migration, marriage and social mobility can impact development of the society. In an effort to discuss the demographic features the essay shall begin with defining and discuss the key concept of demographic features and therefore give a descriptive explanation with examples of the phenomenon in relation of each features and their impact on development of society. Appropriate illustrations of charts, graphs and tables will be included in the discussion. Thereafter a conclusion will be drawn to give a final thought. At the end the discussion a list of publication which have been consulted will be included. Definitions of key concept Development has traditionally meant achieving sustained rate of growth or income per capita to enable a nation expand its output at a rate faster than the growth rate of its population. Development must therefore be conceived of as a multi-dimensional process involving major changes and transformation of people’s livelihood through improved living standards, and greater freedom and liberty in every sphere (P. todaro and c smith 2003, 2012). Relating to the topic, each of the mentioned demographic features will be discussed on how it impacts development of the society. The study of human population begins with how many people are born. Conceptually, Fertility is the incidence of childbearing in the country’s population. In other words fertility refers to the number of children that an average woman bears during her reproductive years- from puberty to menopause (Barro, 1997). High fertility results in high population growth especially if fecundity is equally high in the country. Fecundity is the number of children an average woman is capable of bearing. Descriptively, the worlds average fertility rate is about 3 children per women the fecundity of a normal woman is more than twenty children, but this is sharply reduced in practice by culture norms, finances and personal choice (CSO 2001). It can be further noted that the highest fertility rate (nearly 6 children per woman) in the world occurs in Africa (the poor world region), while the lowest occurs in Europe (about 1. 5) (the richest region). Demographers’ measures fertility using the crude birthrate, the number of lives births in a given year for every thousand people in a population. The crude birthrate is calculated by dividing the number of lives in a year by a society’s total population and multiplying the results by 1000. The birthrate is ‘‘crude’’ because it is based on the entire population and not just women in their childbearing years. Mortality refers to the finite nature of humanity: people die. In demography, the term mortality is used to refer to the number of deaths in a given time or place or the proportion of deaths in relation to a population. Mortality rate is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of deaths per 1000 individuals per year; thus, a mortality rate of 9. 5 (out of 1000) in a population of 100,000 would mean 950 deaths per year in that entire population, or 0. 95% out of the total. This measure is also called the crude death rate. As of July 2009 the crude death rate for the whole world is about 8. 37 per 1000 per year according to the current (CIA World Fact book). Migration is the movement of people into and out of a specified territory. Migration may be involuntary such as the forced expulsion of refugees across borders. It may also be voluntary usually as a result of complex push-pull factors. People’s movement into a territory is immigration and is measured as an in-migration rate or the number of people entering an area for every thousand people in the population. On the other hand, emigration i. e. movement out of a territory measured by out –migration rate or number leaving for every thousand people. The difference between the two is called the net-migration rate. Both immigration and emigration often occurs simultaneously Marriage is a socially supported union involving two or more individuals in what is regarded as a stable, enduring arrangement based at least in part on a sexual bond of some kind. Depending on the society, marriage may require religious and/or civil sanction, although some couples may come to be considered married simply by living together for a period of time (common law marriage). Marriage serves several functions. In most societies, it serves to socially identify children by defining kinship ties to a mother, father, and extended relatives. It also serves to regulate sexual behavior, to transfer, preserve, or consolidate property, prestige, and power, and most importantly, it is the basis for the institution of family. Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals or group from one status in the society to another. This is vertical mobility which involves upwards or downwards movement, the social economic redder. Whether a person has changed his social status in society can be measured by comparing an individual’s status to that of his parents. Society’s organized by social class, rather than caste, usually allow greater social mobility; in such societies, one’s ability to achieve a higher social status can depend on factors such as social connections, wealth, effort and education. In meritocracies, social status depends on merit. Gender and race can limit upward social mobility, and many sociologists believe social mobility depend more on social structures such as the opportunities offered to different groups of people rather than individual efforts. The demographic features and development Fertility and development High mortality represents one of the most persistent barriers to population growth and economic development in pre modern economies. Historically, the European population faces life expectancies at birth that never seem to have exceeded 40 years and suffered several declines due to famines and recurrent epidemics (Wrigley and schofield 1981) at a point between the 17th and 18th centuries, mortality started to decline and income and population started to increase, with the increase in income level, also nutrition improved. Life expectancy at birth; total (years) in Zambia was last measured at 52. 57 in 2012, according to the World Bank. Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life. The table 1 below represent life expectancy at birth in Zambia since 2000, while table 2 represent Zambia’s real GDP growth rate 1999 to 2012 and table 3 shows the mortality rate from 2000 to 2012. Table1 life expectancy at birth Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Zambia 37. 24 37. 29 37. 35 35. 25 35. 18 39. 7 40. 03 38. 44 38. 59 38. 63 52. 03 52. 36 52. 57 Source: CIA fact book 2012 Table2 growth rate in real GDP Country 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Zambia 1. 5 4 3. 9 4. 2 4 4. 6 5 5. 8 6 6 6. 3 7. 6 6. 6 Source: CIA fact book 2012 Table 3 mortality rate Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Zambia 22. 08 21. 97 21. 89 24. 3 24. 35 20. 23 19. 93 21. 46 21. 35 21. 34 12. 84 12. 61 12. 42 Source: CIA fact book 2012 As evident from the tables above, Zambia has experienced a growth in real GDP with increasing life expectancy which is human development while the death rate or mortality reducing. This is because lesser death means sustained productivity which impact on GDP growth rate to expand hence greater income resulting into increased life expectancy the indicator of human development. Migration and Development International migration is an ever-growing phenomenon that has important development implications for both sending and receiving countries. For a sending country, migration and the resulting remittances lead to increased incomes and poverty reduction, and improved health and educational outcomes, and promote economic development. Yet these gains might come at substantial social costs to the migrants and their families. Since many developing countries are also large recipients of international migrants, they face challenges of integration of immigrants, job competition between migrant and native workers, and fiscal costs associated with provision of social services to the migrants. Migration has an impact on climate change, democratic values, national identity, and security. In Zambia, there is a lack of valid data about the numbers of cross-border migrants (both regular and irregular) and internal migrants. Zambia has a land border of 5,000 miles, which connects it to eight neighbouring countries: Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. The country has a long history of internal and cross-border migration with people moving in search of livelihoods – for example, to work on mines in the Copperbelt, on commercial farms, in small-scale fishing and fish trading, and as truckers along the transport corridors that link the landlocked country with its neighbours. Because of its relative peace and stability, Zambia has also been a host country to refugees and migrants from surrounding states – particularly Angola and DRC. High levels of migration causes problems such as increasing unemployment and potential ethnic strife (if people are coming in) or a reduction in the labor force, perhaps in certain key sectors (if people are leaving) . The table 3 below includes the figure for the difference between the number of persons entering and leaving a country during the year per 1,000 persons (based on midyear population). An excess of persons entering the country is referred to as net immigration (e. g. , 3. 56 migrants/1,000 population); an excess of persons leaving the country as net emigration (e. g. , -9. 26 migrants/1,000 population). The net migration rate indicates the contribution of migration to the overall level of population change. Table1 Net migration rate (migrant(s)/1,000 population) source: CIA fact book 2012 Country 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Zambia -0. 33 -0. 16 -0. 16 0 0 0 0 -2. 68 -2/63 -2. 59 -0. 62 -0. 84 -0. 76 The high brain drain immigration affects productivity greatly as the economy invest a lot in human resource but loses it to other countries . Furthermore the net inflow of refugees and asylum seekers is detrimental to development Social mobility and development The proposition that social mobility increases with development has been widely accepted, it is a widely held belief by social scientist that development and social mobility are positively associated; the more economically developed a society the higher the rate of social mobility. Davis (1962) argued that the high rate of social mobility are a precondition for a society to move from a pre- industrial state to an industrial one, in other words, his argument holds that mobility causes development. In the case of Zambia development is argued to come as a result of the growth of the middle class which is largely composed of small to medium scale entrepreneurship MOFNP (2011) projects that a shift from current 12,050 middle class to 28,600 by 2030 is enough to help see Zambia’s vision 2030 possible of developing into middle income country. Development must translate into improved standards of living for the citizenry hence social mobility. However social mobility is the product of many factors which include: social structure, education, effective resource distribution etc. structure mobility is the developmental mobility of a country springing from individual mobility as planned for Zambia in its vision 2030. During the industrial revolution, rapid social mobility occurred as low class farm labourer developed into middle class industrial labourers with industrial skills acquisition such that there was an exponential mobility of individuals from the lower to middle class and the middle class into upper class as they opened new industries with the acquired skills. Development by social mobility requires as argued by UNDP 2006 an atleast 3% change in social upward mobility within society which is catalytic to change Marriage and development For richer or poorer The economic advantages to both the persons involved and to the wider society when marriage is accepted as a desirable social norm are significant. Historically, poverty has been the result of a lack of employment and poor income. Today, it is increasingly the result of family structure. The consequence of parents failing to marry and to stay married is that more children are likely to experience poverty. One Australian study of 500 divorcees with young children revealed that 80% of those mothers were dependant on social security after 5 years and that, they sustained income losses of up to 26%. In contrast, marriage seems to create wealth. This appears to be the result of factors beyond the simple effects of two incomes. Marriages stimulate the growth of partnership and mutuality and result in productive wealth accumulation through initiatives such as the purchasing of a home In sickness and in health Any decline in health has personal, relational and social consequences. The Journal of Marriage and Family (literature review, 1990) described the protective effects of marriage as follows: Compared to married people, the non-married have higher rates of mortality than the married: about 50% higher among women and 25% higher among men†. Unmarried persons including the divorced, widowed and singles, appear to be significantly more likely to become ill and die from various heart diseases, pneumonia, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver as well as experiencing premature death by car accident and suicide. A six year study of suicide found that never-married men had (suicide) mortality levels 90% higher than the standard rates and married men up to 43% below the standard rate. Another study in the Australian Medical Journal revealed that married separated males are six times more likely to commit suicide than married men. Australian research also shows that in terms of mental health, married women have a significant level of benefit over separated, widowed and divorced women. There is a substantial social burden which results from the premature death and disablement of significant numbers of what would otherwise have been capable and productive members of a community. Marriage breakdown can also harm the general wellbeing of children by placing them at greater risk of criminal behaviour and of abuse and early marriages. In case of Zambia, child marriages are high. The Country has been ranked 10th on a global ranking of prevalence of early marriages amongst girls and boys. Particularly notable is the vast gender discrepancy with 42% of women aged 20 24 years, married before age 18, compared to only 5% of men, indicating that girls are often married to older men( parliamentary report on the challenges of ‘child’ marriages) 2013. The parliamentary report observed that social and economic factors that perpetuate child marriages are interconnected to Economic hardships which encourage families to marry off their daughters rather than send them to school, and social norms support the view that education is less important for girls than boys. Girls who marry early are caught up in a negative cycle that involves premature childbearing, high rates of maternal mortality and child malnutrition which hinders development and slows down the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Marriages are influenced by cultural practices which are highly respected and rooted in the African tradition, the report added that if such trends continue, an estimated 453,000 young girls born between 2005 and 2010 would be married or in union before the age of 18 years by 2030. Conclusion