The death rate has fallen since 1900, which could be due to improvements in healthcare or the improved nutrition which has accounted for the reduction in death rates. However there are consequences for the decreasing death rate and one major consequence of this is the ageing population. The UK date rate refers to the overall number of deaths per year. In 2010, the death rates decreased to 493,242 which is a reduction of the death rate from 600,000 deaths per year in the early 1900s. There have been several reasons for the decline in death rate, and one of the reasons include the improved nutrition that the UK has achieved during the 1900s.
Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been a change to the UK population. There are several reasons for this including changing laws and changes in society. Medical advances have also led to a difference within the ages of people in the UK population. The birth rate has decreased significantly since 1900 (Item B). One reason for this is the reliable contraception that has become available.
For example, both urban and rural suicide rates decreased, male suicide rates became higher than those of the females, and elderly suicide significantly increased. The most recent decade of the 2010s moulded the distinction between the traditional suicide profile in the rural areas that were immensely affected by the collapse of communes and the rise of migration. As for the city areas, the urbanisation and modernisation have improved the livelihood of the younger generation. However, the ageing of society, urban life stressors, mental health issues, and rising living prices are putting their toll on the metropolitan society. Without the positive economic growth and urbanisation rates, these factors may lead to a new upsurge in the suicide rates.
P3-Explain patterns and trends in health and illness among different social groupings M2- Compare sociological explanations for different patterns and trends D1- Evaluate the way patterns and trends in health and illness are measured Researches into health inequalities in the UK were published between 2005 and 2007. The life expectancy between those who live in the less fortunate parts of the country compared to the affluent parts of the country is 11 years. This could be due to the fact that people who are less wealthy than others usually don't get the best treatment when it comes to poor health. Compared to those who can afford private doctors, they will receive the best treatment needed. This is due to social class.
At stage 2, the DTM starts to change, with the total population increasing, due to a fall in the death rate and a still high birth rate. This can be seen in many developing countries now, such as Ethiopia, and many others from Africa. The death rate falls due to an increase in the availability and effectiveness of healthcare, and also due to an increase in the mechanisation of work, causing less people to die while working from accidents. The birth rate however remains high, as it takes time for the population to fully realise that less children are dying, and therefore they do not need to have as many children in order to support themselves. Another reason due to the high birth rate in countries such as Ethiopia is the lack of use of contraceptives.
Besides, a better way of life also leads to decline in mortality. Therefore, people’s life span has been prolonged which leads to ageing population (¶2, 3, 5, 10). In addition to the low mortality rate, the ability to have children also goes down. As the death
Feldman tells us: “(m)iddle adulthood is generally a healthy period, but people become more susceptible to … arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension, and they have a higher death rate than before. However, the death rate among people in middle adulthood in the United States has been steadily declining” (2011, p. 506). Middle adults of higher socioeconomic status have fewer incidents of disease and middle adults of lower socioeconomic have more incidents of disease (Feldman 2011). People gain weight, decline in height and strength, and the lens of the eyes change causing diminished night vision; middle adults, also, experience declines in near vision and awareness of three dimensions (Feldman 2011). Also, cases of glaucoma, one of the diseases that causes blindness, increases during middle adulthood; hearing ability also declines, this involves being unable to pick some high-frequency sounds and some loss of “sound localization” (Feldman, 2011, p.505).
Over the last century, there has been a decline in premature deaths throughout developed countries (Alder et al, 2009). Life expectancy has grown in the United Kingdom from 45 for females and 49 for males In 1901 and in more recent times to 75 years for male and 80 years for female in 1999 (Hicks and Ellen;1999). Not everywhere is experiencing longevity of life the average life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 35.5 (Stibich, 2009).The ONS (2009) have suggested that males and females in the UK could expect to live to 77.44 and 81.65 years respectively. The same report also highlighted the gap between the genders after surviving to 65 years. This is illustrated in the diagram below.
The population in MEDC’s is high but not growing. This is because they do not have a high birth rate, and their death rate has fallen below the birth rate. An example of this is shown in countries like the UK or USA. Both countries have a very low national increase (UK has a national increase of 4 per 1000). The UK has a total birth rate of 13 per 1000 and the USA has a total birth rate of 14 per 1000.
According to Howarth et al this is due to the perceived lack of sufficient data on this topic, although recent social exclusion (PSE) surveys and reports offer a great scope of the issue. At present there are around 11 million pensioners in the UK: 4 million men and 7 million women. Pensioners make up around 18% of the population and this is an ever increasing statistic as the life expectancy age has risen (ONS, 1999). Not only are the older generations living longer healthier lives, on average the position of pensioners in current society has been improving, for example in the 1980-1990s when pensioners incomes grew by two thirds (DSS, 2002). These changes have enabled greater independence for some