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.
Causes of Ageing Population Ageing population becomes increasingly serious in the world because of the demographic transition. The first reason is the decrease in death rate. It is caused by the increased awareness of public hygiene and the improvement of medical equipments and treatments like the use of vaccination and medicine. People’s diseases can be cured better so that there is a diminution in death from contagious diseases. Besides, a better way of life also leads to decline in mortality.
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.
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.
It has impacted and challenged China in ways that were expected and unexpected, both positively and negatively. The One Child Policy appears to have succeeded in one of its aims – China’s birth rate has plunged from almost 6 children per woman in 1965 to 1.6 today. The strain on China’s health care system has been lifted, and it now provides an improved health service - especially for women, who can receive free contraception and pre-natal classes. The Inter-Uterine device has become one of the most popular methods of contraception in China. Due to dropping fertility rates and an increased life expectancy, China’s population has rapidly become an aging one.
Stage one is pre modern which is when the birth rate and death rate fluctuate between each other which keeps population at a low, but stable point. Next is urbanizing and industrializing, at this stage the death rate drops due to better health care, standard of living etc and causes the population to increase quite quickly. Stage three is called mature industrial in this phase the birth rate stays high and the death rate is low so the population still increases quickly due to better technology. Lastly is the post industrial stage where the birth rate drops to the same level as the death rate which causes the population to become steady once again. An MEDC would be in stage four or nearing the end of it where and LEDC would be in the early stages.
If the LEDC had the high enough levels of development it could educate it population and these profit providing process could be taxed and boost the economy of the LDC to allow such infrastructure to grow. With low levels of infrastructure health care is not as available as in MEDC nations. This causes LDC nations to have lower life expectancies and be less productive due to being ill. In Sierra Leone high levels of AIDS/ HIV, approximately 49,000, and outbreaks such as the deadly Ebola Virus means little taxes can be taken as unemployment is high. As a consequence many LDC nations rely on foreign health and economic aid putting them in a situation of unrepayable debt, so even less money can be spent on infrastructure and supporting the economy.
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).
The only way that this can happen is by the number of births. If there are being a lot of babies born then the population grows. The Logistic population growth is when the growth rate of a population decreases as the number of individuals increases. Exponential growth may occur in environment where there are few individuals and plentiful resources but when the number of individuals becomes large enough resources will deplete. Which lead to Logistic population growth because the number of people will decrease.
Thus Singapore will remain competitive against other countries. Younger immigrants help to slow population ageing when they become citizens. Another economic benefit includes the workforce becoming younger. Immigrants, with their children, will increase the overall size of the workforce and ensure a younger workforce that will also be more attractive to both local and foreign companies. This benefits the economy of the country.