Population and Society Final Exam 04 28 2015 SYD 3020 Study questions for Test 3 Populations Growing Older Populations Growing Younger 1 What questions does the Census Bureau use on the decennial census to determine a person s age Why are demographers so careful to get good data about age Questions that the Census Bureau use on the decennial census to determine a person s age o Age and date of birth Why are demographers so careful to get good data about age o To get an accurate depiction of the makeup of the population to see if the country is at below or above the replacement levels and in order to make policy decisions accordingly 2 What is age heaping Age Heaping o On surveys people round their age up or down to the nearest number that ends in 0 or 5 o When the ages are graphed the distribution isn t smooth instead there are heaps over the ages ending in 0 and 5 3 What is a young population What is an old population Young Population o A population that contains a large proportion of young people relative to the rest of the makeup of the population o According to Coale a sustained high TFR means a young population Old Population o A population that contains a large proportion of old people o According to Coale A Sustained low TFR mean old population 4 What does a population pyramid tell us about a population If a population has a high youth dependency ratio what shape is its population pyramid Population Pyramid o tells us the age and sex distribution of a population Shape of pyramid with high youth dependency o Very wide base and narrows as it approaches the older ages 5 How can you tell the difference between an old population and a young one using a population pyramid Difference o The younger population is narrow at the top old ages then widens as it approaches the base young ages Think of a Triangle wide base then narrows toward the top SYD 3020 Study guide for Test 3 Page 2 o The older population Is wider closer to the top older ages and begins to narrow as it reaches the base young ages Meaning there are more people of old age then of youth Think of an upside down triangle Wide at the top then narrows toward the bottom base 6 What does the median age tell us Provide an example of a country with a low median age and an example of a country with a high median age What is the median age for the US Median Age o tells us the average age of the population Example of country with low median age o Niger is an example of a country with low median age of 15 Example of country with high median age o Japan is an example of a high median age of 45 8 o U S has a median age of 37 5 o Italy and Germany are two other examples of high median ages due to having a fertility rate that is below the 2 1 replacement level SYD 3020 Study guide for Test 3 Page 3 7 How are the three demographic variables related to age composition 1 Fertility o Coale p 365 Whether a national population is young or old is mainly determined by the number of children women bear Sustained high TFR young population Sustained low TFR older population o This is the key driver 2 Mortality o Improvements younger population o Coale p 366 Prolongation of life has the perverse effect of making the population somewhat younger o But don t we end up with more old people Yes but we end up with more young people too because more individuals survive to become parents 3 Migration o Coale p 365 The age distribution of most national o populations is not much affected by migration o Type of effect depends on migrants ages Effects tend to dissipate over time Migrants grow older Fertility converges to destination country levels Effects most likely to be observed at local level o Local time limited SYD 3020 Study guide for Test 3 Page 4 8 Distinguish the total dependency ratio youth dependency ratio and aged dependency ratio What do these indicators tell us about the distribution of a population across age groups You should be able to interpret each measure and provide a substantive explanation of why they re important Distinguish the following 3 ratios and describe what these indicators tell us about a population across age groups o 1 Total Dependency Ratio This is an index the economic burden of both the youth elder populations If the youth or olderly population increase it put more burden on the working age Total dependency ratio of person age 0 14 of person age 64 and older divided by the of persons 15 64 then multiplied by 100 o 2 Youth Dependency Ratio the economic burden of the youth population Youth is defined as the portion of the population ages 0 14 otherwise known as too young to be in the working force o 3 Aged Dependency Ratio the economic burden of the elderly population Aged is defined as the portion of the population who is 64 and older who are too old to be in the working force This affects social security and Medicaid SYD 3020 Study guide for Test 3 Page 5 9 What shape is the population pyramid of a population with a high youth dependency ratio How about a population with a high aged dependency ratio Shape of high youth dependency population pyramid o High concentration of youth creating a wide base that continues to narrow as it reaches the middle and old ages think of a triangle Shape of High aged dependency population pyramid o Narrow base that continues to widen as it reaches the middle ages and is the widest at the higher ages o Think of an upside down triangle 10 How is a population s sex ratio measured Provide the range of typical values for the sex ratio at birth Population Sex Ratio Measured by o The number of males per 100 females The typical range of values for the sex ratio at birth o Typical value for sex ratio at birth 104 6 11 How does the sex ratio change across the values of a population s age composition does it get bigger or smaller At what point in the age structure does a population s sex ratio begin to switch from favoring males to favoring females SYD 3020 Study guide for Test 3 Page 6 How does sex ratio change across the values of a population s age composition bigger or smaller o The sex ratio gets smaller across the values of populations age composition o At what point in the age structure does a population s sex ratio begin to switch from favoring males to favoring females o At age 45 sex ratio starts favoring females o This is most likely due to the fact that males as a whole have a shorter life expectancy than females creating less …