Online Lab: Demographics

For this online demographics lab project, I will be comparing the entire worlds
population, fertility rate, and mortality rate with one higher fertility rate country
and one lower fertility rate country. The purpose of this project is to see how a
higher fertility rate country and a lower fertility rate country contribute to the
entire worlds population between now and the year 2050. I will also be citing
reasons why some countries are more likely to birth fewer children than other
countries, what effect this will have on future growth, and what could affect
future population growth in higher fertility countries.

Pictures from http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~brauer/Family/Kari/images/KarisFamily_small.gif & http://www.greenleft.org.au/2000/412/412p23.gif

1. What was your high fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate? I used Africa for the high
fertility rate country. In 1990 the population was almost 660 million people, and by the year 2050 it
is expected to be almost 2.7 billion people. The fertility rate is 5.30 children.
 2. What was your low fertility rate country and what was its fertility rate? I used Italy for the low
fertility rate country. In 1990 the population was almost 58 million people, and by the year 2050 it is
expected to be about 49 million people. The fertility rate is 1.50 children.
3. The initial demographic "shape" of your high fertility rate country should have been a pyramid,
with high population in young age groups. Explain why high fertility rate results in a high
percentage of young people in the population. How does this affect future population growth?
In Africa, the highest percentage of the population is among the younger people for a couple of
reasons. First, the largest population (younger people) is responsible for the higher fertility rate
(average fertility rate 5.3) and are producing more offspring faster than the countries death rate.
Second, underdeveloped countries typically do not possess the funds or knowledge about
contraceptives. In North America, we tend to have families the size of what the parents can afford.
In underdeveloped countries most people are far below the poverty level, so keeping their head
above “middle class” is not of concern. Typically, in underdeveloped nations when a child is raised
in a poor family who has many siblings, they will grow up to mimic the way they were raised; poor
with many offspring. This is a hard cycle to break, especially when you don’t have the proper
education and financial backings to help one break the cycle. Also, in the last few decades Africa
has seen a huge increase in their birth rate which has significantly increased the younger
population percentage. Our population growth will continue to rise because of the higher fertility
nations; however, I believe that disease and the inability to access medicine will control some
population in higher fertility nations. On a side note, as for North America I believe our population
will see a huge spike due to illegal immigration, their offspring, and the ability to receive good
medical care.
4. Your low fertility rate country might have had a more oval-shaped curve with high population in
middle age groups. This is especially exaggerated if the fertility rate is below 2.00. Explain why
low fertility rate leads to lots of middle-aged people.
Well, my Father and Mother would say that there are more middle aged people in countries with
lower fertility rates because they don’t have to deal with the stresses of children. While there may
be some truth to that, I believe that in the lower fertility countries it is because there is more
knowledge and use of contraceptives and family planning. In more affluent nations, woman are
involved with careers and schooling which tends to delay the childbearing years from the twenties
to the thirties.
5.  Write ten adjectives or descriptive phrases for what you might expect life, people's
attitudes, conditions on the streets, etc. will be like in each of those situations.  Imagine
a situation with lots of middle-aged and older people in the population and write ten
quick "brain-storm" descriptors for you think it would be like (Prescott, Arizona?).  Then
do the same for a situation with lots of children in the population.

More Middle-aged and Older People: responsible, caring, creative, educated, responsible,
problem solvers, follow through on promises and ideas, clean, maintained environment,
concerned for others and the environment, simple and laid back.

More Children: carelessness, crime, lack of education, lack of desire, unmotivated, wants to
play all the time, no work ethic, decline in morals and ethics, no individual responsibility, and
out of touch with reality.

Conclusion
The goal for this lab project was to understand two different countries
demographics in comparison to the entire worlds demographics, and what
factors played a role in the countries current and future population.