Using Information from Item a and B and Elsewhere, Assess the Causes and Consequences of Changes in the Uk Population.

806 Words4 Pages
It is apparent that there are a number of causes and changes that have affected the population in the UK such as the varying birth, death and fertility rates, the increase of migration and the higher life expectancy rates. These causes and/or changes have directly and indirectly influenced the way we live in the UK and has resulted in various types of people living here (family diversity) than in the past. Evidently, our population continues to grow and this is because of a number of reasons. Until the 1950’s and 1960’s natural changes such as the increase in births than deaths was the main reason for the increase in the UK population. The number of live births per year increased due to several factors such as children were used to work on farms (source of income) and in those days there was no reliable contraception and little education. The number of people dying was also high but still less in proportion to the birth rates. This was due to poor medical knowledge and poor diet, water and sanitation. More recently the birth rate has decreased and this is due to social, economic, cultural, legal, political and technological factors. A mixture of these factors led to the change in the position of women in society, the increase in equality, especially legally, including the right to vote (legal factor), the increase in educational opportunities (social factor) meant that women chose to educate themselves before starting a family, the increase in work opportunities with laws banning unequal pay and sex discrimination (social/legal factor)and changing attitudes in society meant that it was socially acceptable for women to be employed whereas traditionally the wife would be the housewife and the husband would be the breadwinner and would financially support his family. Recently, the number of people dying has also decreased in the UK as there is an increase in life
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