Introductory Activity

As an introductory activity, we did a report on Demographic Age Structure where we got the opporunity to understand what having "lots of old people" or a large elderly population, and "lots of young people" of a large youthful population really means. We examined countries that have both of these situations, and explored the advantages and disadvantages of having both of these. We also looked at different kinds of solutions, that will lead countries in these positions to the Demographic Dividend (if they have't reached it yet).

Click on the image to view the full report on Demographic Age Structure.

Responses to High and Low Fertility RATES

Activity 1 : Video Critique

My video of choice for this unit is the one to the left called 'Anti natalist policies - China'.

There are a number of reasons why I chose this video. To begin with, the video explained what an Anti- Natalist policy is in layman terms, and went further to discuss the purpose of such a policy. My understanding of this is that it is meant to slow down the population growth rate. This can be for different situations, for example when a countries population is too great in comparison to the available resources, and when the youthful population is too great as well. The video went on to provide a specific example of one such country, which is China, and gave background information with regards to what led them to adopt the One Child Policy. I gained a deeper understanding of the different reasons countries will implement these kinds of policies.The video was very well rounded, as it wasn't based on any perspective so it is a good and unbiased source in my opinion. Also, The sequence and the organization of the video is easy to follow and helped me understand the information a lot better. It begun by introducing the topic and explaining it, then evaluated the advantages and disadvantes of having the one child policy implemented in China, which I can briefly state:

1. Advantages - lower fertility and birth rates, which achieved the goal of slowing down population growth rates in the country.

2. Disadvantages - Increased abortion rates, especially of females, and fewer people in the workforce due to the one child policy.

In addition, I selected this video with the knowledge that a large project would be based on pro and anti-natalist policies, and as soon as I watched this video, I found it to be very insightful on the subject at hand, as it was specifically focused on that topic, and further focused on one country that is well known for this in great detail. The extent to which the video went in-depth about China will be extremely helpful to me in the coming activities, I have some idea's that I can expand upon, and offer further analysis on Anti-Natalist policies. I consider this video to be a good starting point for the next activity, as it is giving me some good background information that will be very useful to me. It is also very factual, and provides dates and statistics, such as China's implementation of the one child policy, which began in 1979. I can use the disadvantages of Anti-Natal Polices to discuss Pro-Natal polices as well. I am also of the opinion that this video will be a helpful study tool because of its simplicity. It only offers me one example, which is China, but I will be able to take my understanding of this example, and apply it to other countries in similar situations. I can also offer an in-depth understanding of China if need be. Therefore, thanks to this video, I now have a good definition of Anti Natalist Policies which I view as "Strategies employed by governments who want to limit the size of their population" and a greater understanding of this topic, and some good starting points for the next activity!

Activity 2.1 : Pro- Natal & Anti- Natal Policies

The major activity of this sub-unit is this activty on Pro-Natal & Anti-Natal Polices. We got the opportunity to get an understanding of what both of these mean in depth, and further observe examples of countries.

We got to select an example of both a pro-natal country and an anti-natal country and look at them in depth with relation to the countries population patterns, anf further data relating to their population (be they over populated or under). After gaining an understanding of the structure of the population, the next step was to examine the challneges that are related to their big or small population. Furthermore, we moved on to analysing the pro-natal or anti natal policy that the country had. We got to examine it in depth, and observe its success and its failures. All of this information came together in the form of the InfoGraphic (to the left). This will be a very helpful revision resource, as it offers an overview and then focuses on one particular country.

Activity 2 - Article Critic

The article "Youth in developing countries: a generation looking for work" is a well rounded article that looks at the youthful population of the world, their possibilites and potential, as well as well the problems with an abundant youthful population. I selected this article because we have been looking at population growth, and there are a large number of young people in the world. I wanted to get a better understanding of the impacts, both negative and positive, of a youthful population.

To begin with, the article provides a lot of data and statistics, with regards to employment, unemployment and the statistics are organized in intersting visuals such as images and charts, and easy to see figures.

The youth are the future of the world, as they will be the workforce and contribute to the economy. The article discusses the importance of the youth bulge, as they create opportunities for the world to develop. It goes on further to discuss that if governments don't prioritize creating opportunities for their potential workforce, the development gains of the country could be eroded via crime, and the violence that comes with an idle youth. This is an important piece of information that I had not yet considered.

I found the article to be well structured as well, with a clear introduction, well organized statistical findings, and a good summary or conclusion. It will be a helpful revision guide for me because of this, as I can easily go back to it. Although some of the idea's that were presented were a little advanced or complex, the article simplified concepts.

The image above is a representation of the unemployed youth. Please click on it to view the article on which this critique is based

This sub-unit is a continuation of 'Population Growth' and it is mostly based on analysing old age cohorts and youth cohorts in a population. The aim is to understand the causes of having more dependents, (be they old or young) in a population, and to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of an older dependency ratio (those aged 65 and above) and a youth dependency ratio (those aged between 0-14) in comparisoon the the working force.