The Correlation Between Demography and Development

 Demographic Concepts

 The study of data such as births, deaths, wealth, or illness incidence that show the changing structure of human populations. or the statistical study of human populations, particularly in terms of size and density, dispersion, and vital statistics.

Demographic models examine various regimes of population change for historical and future population structures, which are mathematically specified and numerically used to quantify or project population change. It’s basic feature is to establish a set of documentation.

Demographic Concept Birth and Death Rates, Age Structure, Fertility and Mortality.

Age structure

One of the most significant features of population composition is the age-sex structure. Almost all demographic features of the population change considerably with age. Age data are an essential component of population analysis since the majority of the analysis is based on the population's age-sex structure.

India has one of the world's highest percentages of people in their twenties. At the time of the 2001 Census, 35.3 percent of the country's population was between the ages of 0 and 14. Less than 18-year-olds account for 41% of the population.

Fertility and mortality

In the absence of a concerted attempt to restrict family size, the higher the proportion of the population in the reproductive age range, the faster population growth will be, and this will shift the average age of the population structure towards the younger end of the spectrum.

The effect of fatality on population structures is that it reduces the population component in which mortality occurs. In the past, the most hazardous eras were childhood and old age (variously reckoned according to circumstances). They came to a conclusion. The age structure depresses the birthrate more pronouncedly as the birthrate rises. 

All else being equal, fertility should fall more rapidly in nations where it is now lowest, as the age structure tends to encourage such a trajectory.

Demographic Transitions During the Process of Development

The connection between birth and mortality rates changes as a country's economy develops, and it must go through several stages of population expansion Population increase, according to demographic transition theory, will have to pass through these several stages as economic development progresses. 

The twentieth century witnessed the first demographic transition, which describes a process in which population mortality, fertility, and growth rates all fell substantially.

The first stage has been labelled the "high population growth potential stage." It is characterized by high and variable birth and mortality rates that virtually cancel one other out. If high birth and death rates maintain about equal throughout time, a static equilibrium with negligible population growth will prevail.

The continuation of below-replacement fertility in industrialized nations is the second demographic transition. The second stage is known as the Population Explosion stage. At this point, the death rate is falling but the birth rate stays high. This is a “Expanding” stage of population development, which means that the population is growing at an increasing pace.

The third demographic transition happens when low fertility persists for an extended period of time, resulting in labor supply shortages that are supplied by immigration. Third Stage: It is also known as a population stage since the population continues to expand rapidly. 

At this point, the birth rate is declining faster than the mortality rate. As a result, population growth is slowing. The birth rate falls throughout this stage, whereas the mortality rate remains constant since it has already reached its lowest point. Birth rates are declining as a result of economic progress, changing societal views, and improved family planning services. 

The population continues to expand rapidly because the mortality rate has stopped dropping, but the birth rate, albeit reducing, remains greater than the death rate.

Gender Bias

The present study used households with a pair of male-female siblings (aged 1–5 years) from two rounds of National Family Health Survey (NFHS, 1992–93 and 2005–06). 

Despite the numerous concrete benefits it provides males in terms of wealth, power, authority, and control, gender inequality harms the physical and emotional health of millions of girls and women throughout the world, as well as boys and men. 

Because of the sheer number of individuals engaged and the complexity of the issues, taking action to enhance gender equality is essential. Worsening and regularly implementing human rights provisions may be a strong tool for motivating and mobilizing governments, people, and notably women themselves. 

Gender as power relations creates a systematic attention on the forms that discrimination and bias take, as well as the ensuing inequities and injustice. Whenever one looks for positive factors affecting historically unequal gender systems, rising literacy and increases within the education of women are usually at the highest of the list. 

Significant percentages of women enter adulthood uneducated, particularly in South Asia, where the literacy rate for women (aged 15 and above) in 2004 was as low as 48 percent, just two-thirds that of males (HDR, 2006).

Written By - Arya Sinha