Class 12 Sociology Chapter 2 THE DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE OF INDIAN SOCIETY

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NCERT Notes for Class 12 Sociology Chapter 2 THE DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE OF INDIAN SOCIETY

Class 12 Sociology Chapter 2 THE DEMOGRAPHIC STRUCTURE OF INDIAN SOCIETY

 

Demography Types of Demography Formal Demography Social Demography Theories of Demography The Malthusian Theory Of Population Growth o The Theory Of Demographic Transition Population Explosion

• Common Concepts and Indicators Birth rate Death rate Growth rate Fertility rate Infant Mortality rate Maternal Mortality rate Life expectancy

Sex ratio Age structure of PPn. Dependency Ratio Size and Growth of India’s PPn. Age structure of Indian PPn. Demographic dividend Declining Sex ratio in India Rural and urban Deference

DEMOGRAPHY

• Demography is the systematic study of population.
• The term is of Greek origin and is composed of two words, ‘demos’ (people) and ‘graphein’ (describe).
• Demography studies the trends and processes associated with population including changes in
  • Population size,
  • Patterns of birth,
  • Deaths and
  • Migration; and
• The structure and composition of the population, such as the relative proportions of women, men and different age groups.
• Demography has its role and functions;
• Development of public health management,
• Policing and maintenance of law and order,
• Economic policies relating to agriculture, o Industry, taxation and revenue generation and
• Governance of cities.

This chapter discusses on various concepts and indicators in demography and the theoretical background behind the population changes from time to time. such as birth rate, death rate, sex ratio , life expectancy, demographic dividend ,ageing etc..

Types of Demography:

• Formal demography
  • It is a largely quantitative field,
  • It is primarily concerned with the measurement and analysis of the components of population change.
  • It has a highly developed mathematical methodology suitable for forecasting population growth and changes in the composition of population.

• Social demography
  • It focuses on the social, economic or political aspects of populations.
  • It enquires into the wider causes and consequences of population structures and change.
  • Social demographers believe that social processes and structures regulate demographic processes; like sociologists,
  • They seek to trace the social reasons that account for population trends.

• • All demographic studies are based on processes of counting or enumeration – such as the census or the survey – which involve the systematic collection of data on the people residing within a specified territory.
  • Social Statistics: Quantitative data on various aspects of the population and economy

CENSUS SURVEYS

• Survey: –look closely at or examine (someone or something).
• Census: – an official count or survey, especially of a population.
• First Modern Census took place in 1790 in America.
• Europe started its census activities in 1800.
• British Govt. in India started conducting census during 1867-72
• Regular ten yearly (or decennial) censuses have been conducted since 1881.
• Independent India continued the practice, and seven decennial censuses have been conducted since 1951, the most recent being in 2011.
• Indian census considered the largest census in the world.
• In China, doesn’t conduct regular census.

THEORIES OF DEMOGRAPHY

• The Malthusian Theory Of Population Growth
• The Theory Of Demographic Transition

The Malthusian theory of population growth

• Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834).
• English political economist
• Based on his book – ‘Essay on Population’ (1798)

• He argued that:

• Human populations tend to grow at a much faster rate than the rate at which the means of human subsistence (specially food, Shelter, Clothing) can grow.
• So people are condemned to live in poverty.
• The growth of agricultural production will always be overtaken by population growth.
• While population rises in Geometric progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc.),
• Agricultural production can only grow in Arithmetic progression (i.e., like 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc.).
• Because population growth always outstrips growth in production of subsistence resources,
• The only way to increase prosperity is by controlling the growth of population.
• But human beings can control population growth only through voluntary methods using Preventive checks (Postponing marriage, practicing sexual abstinence or celibacy)
• So nature uses Positive Checks to control population. (famines and diseases)

Criticism

• This theory was proved wrong by what happened in European countries.
• Birth rates had declined, and outbreaks of epidemic diseases were being controlled.
• Malthus’s predictions were proved false because both food production and standards of living continued to rise despite the rapid growth of population.
• Malthus was also criticized by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth.
• The critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth
• An unjust social system allowed a wealthy and privileged minority to live in luxury while the vast majority of the people were forced to live in poverty.

The theory of Demographic Transition

• This suggests that population growth is linked to overall levels of economic development
• Every society follows a typical pattern of development related population growth.
• There are three basic phases of population growth.

	There are three basic phases of population growth.
Stages	Result	Reason
First stage	Low growth rate (That is underdeveloped and technologically backward like Somalia.)	High Birth rate and High Death rate
Second Stage	Very high growth rate (Developing societies like India )	High Birth rate and Low Death rate
Third Stage	Low growth rate (developed society Like European Countries)	Low birth rate and Low death rate

 

Why population Explosion?

This ‘population explosion’ happens because;

• High Birthrate and Low death rate (2^nd Stage)
• Death rates are brought down relatively quickly through advanced methods of
  • Disease control,
  • Public health and better nutrition.
• This kind of transition was affected in Western Europe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century,
• More or less similar patterns are followed in the less developed countries that are struggling to reduce the birth rate in keeping with the falling mortality rate.

Common concepts and indicators Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

• Total number of live births in a particular area (an entire country, a state, a district or other territorial unit) during a specified period (usually a year) divided by the total population of that area in thousands.
• In other words, the birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

• Total number of Deaths in a particular area (during a specified period, divided by the total population of that area in thousands.
• In other words, the Death rate is the number of Death per 1000 population.

• The Govt. insists that every Birth and Death should be reported in the local Police station or Primary Health Centers in Villages, and Municipal or corporation officers in towns and Cities.
• The accuracy of the findings in Demography depends mainly on the proper reporting of Births and Deaths.

Growth Rate

• Growth rate is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
• When this difference is zero (or no difference) then we say that the population has ‘stabilised’, or Population reached the ‘replacement level’, new generations to replace the older ones that are dying out.
• Sometimes, societies can experience a negative growth rate – that is, their fertility levels are below the replacement rate. ( Japan, Russia, Italy and Eastern Europe)
• Some societies experience very high growth rates, particularly when they are going through the demographic transition

General Fertility Rate

•  It refers to the number of live births per 1000 women in the child-bearing age group, usually taken to be 15 to 49 years.

GFR

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

• Total Number of live births that an imaginary woman would have.

Age Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR)

• The Age-Specific Fertility Rate (ASFR) is the number of live births per 1000 women in a specific age group for a specified geographic area and for a specific point in time, usually a calendar year.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

It is the number of deaths of babies before the age of one year per 1000 live births.

Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR)

• It refers to the number of women who died in child birth per thousand births.

Life Expectancy

• It refers to the estimated number of years that an average person is expected to survive.
• It is calculated on the basis of data on age-specific death rates in a given area over a period of time.

Sex ratio

• It refers to the number of females per 1000 males in a given area at a specified time period.
• In India, 2011 Census – 940, Kerala -1084
• Sex ratio at birth is biologically favourable to females.
• For every 1000 males 943 to 952 female babies are born.
• Death rate among male children is higher than that of female children.
  • Reason: Female babies have grater disease resistance than male babies.

Age structure of the population

• It refers to the proportion of persons in different age groups relative to the total population.
• The age structure changes in response to changes in levels of development and the average life expectancy.
• More people are found in the older age groups compared to younger Age groups. This is called the aging of population.

Dependency Ratio

• It refers to comparing the number of dependent persons with the number of people belonging to working age group (15 to 64) • Below 15 and Above 64 – Dependent on Earners.
• Kerala population is growing old very fast.

• A rising dependency ratio shows that the country will have to provide for more nonearning people
• A falling dependency ratio shows economic growth and prosperity and smaller number of non-earning members. This is known as ‘Demographic Dividend’.

Size and growth of indian population

• Second most populated Country. (1.252 Billion -2013, Now- 1.364 B)
• China- 1.357 B, IND- 1.252 B, USA- 316.5 M
• The growth rate of India’s population has not always been very high.
• Between 1901- 1951 – average annual growth – 1.33%
• 1911-1921 – Negative growth –( -0.03%) – influenza Epidemic .
• After Independence – Increased growth 2.2% -1961- 1981
• Now (1.25%) -2013
• Death rate declined after 1921- Controlling epidemics.
• In 1994 – plague (Surat), Chikungunya -2006

The Global Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19

• Pandemic: more wide spread, crossing national and International boundaries and attaining Global level.
• Influenza is caused by a virus that attacks mainly the upper respiratory tract – the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs.
• The influenza viruses have undergone major genetic changes, resulting in global pandemics and large tolls in terms of both disease and deaths.
• The most infamous pandemic was ‘Spanish Flu’ which affected large parts of the world population and is thought to have killed at least 40 million people in 19181919.
• 1957 (“Asian influenza”) and 1968 (“Hong Kong influenza”)

Famines

• It is also a major and recurring source of increased mortality.
• It is caused by high levels of continuing poverty and malnutrition in an agro climatic environment that was very vulnerable to variations in rainfall.
• AmartyaSen and others believe that fall of food gain production was not the main cause of famines.
  • Famines were caused by the inability of the people to obtain or buy food.
  • They are also caused by a failure of entitlements.
• Reduce deaths from famine (Reason):
  • Improvements in the productivity of Indian agriculture (specially through the expansion of irrigation);
  • Improved means of communication; and o More vigorous relief and preventive measures by the state.
  • The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is the latest state initiative to tackle the problem of hunger and starvation in rural areas

Birth Rate in India

• Birth rate is a socio-cultural phenomenon that is relatively slow to change.
• General awareness among the people about population growth promote the parents to reduce the family size.
• Kerala and Tamil Nadu have managed to bring down their total fertility rates (TFR) to 1.7 each (2009).

This means that the average woman in Tamil Nadu and Kerala produces only 1.7 children, which is below the ‘replacement level’ which means that the population is going to decline in the future.

• Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra – low TFRs • Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh -very high TFRs.
• According to India’s Census report 2011(Provisional)
• India’s total birth rate is 22.1,
• Rural birth rate is 23.7 and
• Urban 18.0.
• Highest birth rate in India is of Uttar Pradesh (28.3) and Bihar (28.1)

Age Structure of Indian Population

• India has a very young population
• The average age is also less than that for most other countries.
• The pyramid for 2026 shows the estimated future size of the relevant age groups based on data on the past rates of growth of each age group. Such estimates are also called ‘projections’.
• The middle of the pyramid grows wider and wider as its share of the total population increases. This creates a ‘bulge’ in the middle age groups that is clearly visible in the pyramid for 2026. This is what is referred to as the ‘Demographic dividend’.
• Demographic dividendshows that we have large number of working age people. The number of old people is comparatively small.
• This advantageous position has to be properly utilized through appropriate policies.

Changing Age structure: A Demographic dividend for India.

• India is one of the youngest countries in the world.
• A third of India’s population was below 15 years of age in 2000.
• In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old
• In 2020- China and USA- 37, Western Europe-45, Japan -48
• This implies a large and growing labour force, which can deliver unexpected benefits in terms of growth and prosperity.
• Working Population- (15-64)
• It is the duty of government to provide education and employment to this working age group.
• India has at the moment of great opportunities due to demographic dividend.
• Dependency ratio came down 1970-79, 2005-64, 2025-48, 2050-50 (Increasing aged)

Declining sex ratio in India

• Sex ratio refers to the number of females per 1000 males in a given area at a specified time period.
• 2011 census
• 940/1000
• Total Male : 623,700,000 (623.7 million)
• Total Female: 586,500,000 (586.5 million)
• Rural : 947
• Urban : 926
• Kerala – 1084

Punjab is the worst off with an incredibly low child sex ratio of 793 (the only state below 800), followed by Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

• Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra are all under 925,
• While Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Odisha are above the national average of 927 but below the 950 mark.
• Even Kerala, the state with the best overall sex ratio does not do too well at 963,
• While the highest child sex ratio of 986 is found in Sikkim.

Reasons for the decline in the sex ratio in India.

• Maternal Mortality
• Low level of Nutrition
• Lack of education and awareness
• Neglect of girl babies in infancy
• Sex specific abortions
• Killing of girl babies due to religious or cultural beliefs
• Modern medical techniques by which the sex of the baby can be determined in the very early stages of pregnancy.
• Dowry system.
• Economically prosperous families decide to have fewer children – often only one or two now – they may also wish to choose the sex of their child.

Literacy

• Ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. –UNESCO
• Literacy can lead to health awareness and fuller participation in the cultural and economic wellbeing of the community.
• Literacy levels have improved considerably after independence and almost twothirds of our population is now literate.
• Literacy varies considerably across gender, across regions, and across social groups.
  • 2011- 16.7% (women) less than Men
  • Female literacy has been rising faster than male literacy
• SC, ST, OBC – lower literacy
• Kerala approaching universal literacy
• Bihar are lagging far behind

2011 Census	Literacy	Male	Female	Change
India	74.04	82.14	65.46	8.66
Kerala	94.00	96.11	92.07	3.14

 

Rural- urban differences

• Majority people lived in Rural Areas
• Now 68.8% population lives in rural areas while 31.2% people live in urban areas.
• More and more people who live in villages may no longer work in agriculture or even in the village.
• Rural people are increasingly engaged in non-farm rural occupations like transport services, business enterprises or craft manufacturing.
• Mass media and communication channels are now bringing images of urban life styles and patterns of consumption into the rural areas.
• Mass transit and mass communication are bridging the gap between the rural and urban areas.
• Rapid growth in urbanization shows that the town or city has been acting as a magnet for the rural population.
• Rural-to-urban migration has also been accelerated by the continuous decline of common property resources like ponds, forests and grazing lands.
• There are now 5,161 towns and cities in India, where 286 million people live.
• More than two-thirds of the urban population lives in 27 big cities with million-plus populations.

Population Policy in India

• The population policy took the concrete form of the National Family Planning Programme.
• The broad objectives of this programme have remained the same – to try to influence the rate and pattern of population growth in socially desirable directions.
• Discus Box 2.4

• National Emergency (1975-76)

• Normal parliamentary and legal procedures were suspended during this time and special laws and ordinances issued directly by the government (without being passed by Parliament) were in force.
• During this time the government tried to intensify the effort to bring down the growth rate of population by introducing a coercive pogramme of mass sterilisation.
• Here sterilisation refers to medical procedures like vasectomy (for men) and tubectomy (for women) which prevent conception and childbirth.
• Vast numbers of mostly poor and powerless people were forcibly sterilised and
• There was massive pressure on lower level government officials (like school teachers or office workers) to bring people for sterilisation in the camps that were organised for this purpose.
• There was widespread popular opposition to this programme, and the new government elected after the Emergency abandoned it.
• A broad-based programme under the name National Family Welfare Programme was introduced as part of the National Population Policy 2000.
• It has several broad-based socio- demographic objectives.