Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Roots
- Family size
- The total population of the UK rose from around 38 million in 1901 to 61 million in 2007
- Individual household sizes have fallen
- In the early 1900s, four or five children might live under the
same roof with their parents, today it is likely to be just one or two
- Many households consist of just one or people
- Increased life expectancy has led to grandparents living longer, which increases the size of extended family
- Population structure
- The UK as a whole has
developed a top-heavy
population structure
- Back in 1931, just
7% of the population
were aged 65, while
24% were under 16
- Today, the figures are
16% of over 65s and
19% of under 25s
- Life expectancy has
increased over time
- In 1901 the
average age of
death was 50 for
men and 57 for
women
- By 2007, the average age of death
was 77 for men and 82 for women
- Before the 1970s
- Population was still growing due to natural increase
- The death rate
had been falling
since the 1800s
- The total
population grew
from 38 million to
55 million
between 1901
and 1971
- Death rate came to its
current low level by
mid-century
- It took until the 1970s,
and the end of the
postwar baby boom, for
declining birth rate to
reach the same low level
as death rate
- Since the 1970s
- Total population has
increased more slowly
- Growth has mostly
been due to immigration
- Both death rate and
birth rate have
remained at a low and
fairly constant level
- Family sizes are small
while life expectancy is
increasing
- The total population grew from 55 million to
61 million between 1971 and 2007
- Migration
- Over time the mobility of the UK population has increased
- One of the most important recent
migrations has been movement
away from manufacturing and
mining towns and towards
settlements with service-sector jobs
- A general southeast drift of
the UK population has
resulted, with 26% now living
in London and the southeast
- Counter-urbanisation - significant numbers of people have left towns and cities to live in surrounding rural areas
- Retired people
moving to seaside
settlements
- Young adults
leaving home and
relocating to
university towns
- Large amounts of
international
migration took
place
- Employment
- Employment
structures for
many settlements
have changed
beyond
recognition in
recent decades
- The decline of traditional
manufacturing as well as job losses
in farming and mine closures
- Movement
away from the
Primary and
Secondary
sectors to the
Tertiary and
Quaternary
sectors
- Social status and
aspirations
- At the start of the 20th century, most
people in the UK were relatively poor
and would have described
themselves as 'working class'
- During the 20th century,
average wages rose and
more people entered higher
education before graduating
to non-manual work
- As a result of social
mobility, more and more
people have come to define
themselves as 'middle class'
- Ethnicity
- The ethnic mix of people living in the UK has changed significantly over time
- With minority groups now accounting for 8% overal
- From 1950s onwards,
large scale migration
took place from the UKs
former colonies of India,
Pakistan and
Bangladesh
- Significant numbers of Australians and white
South Africans also relocated in the UK
- Since the
Maastricht treaty of
1993 many
European migrants
have arrived
- London is now home to 100,000 French nationals
- Segregating results in some districts having noticeably different ethnic profiles
- Around 60% of people living in
the London Borough of Newham
are non-white
- The Grey Challange
- The proportion of the UKs
population aged over 65 is growing
- Ageing population
- Greying of the British society
- The country faces a growing burden of dependency
- Dependency ratio = (Population under 16) + (Population over 65) / (Population 15-64) X 100
- The dependency ratio is rising in the UK as the number of retired people increased
- Currently, 60% of Britons work and pay the state pensions of the 21% who are retired
- By 2030,56% of Britons will be working
to support the 27% who are retired
- By 2026, when the 1960s baby boom generation reaches retirement age, this will amount to about £30 billion per year
- Local authorities with an unusually high proportion of elderly people must fund greater
numbers of care homes and services which results in higher council taxes for working people
- Many older people retire to coastal regions
- Properties remain occupied by elderly owners for much longer as life expectancy rises
- This can result in housing shortages, driving up prices for younger people
- Between 1995 and 2005, average house prices in some UK seaside
towns trebled, taking them well beyond the reach of many first-time buyers
- May place emotional burden on younger and middle-aged people who act as carers for older relatives
- Voluntary charitable work
- Spending the grey pound
- Some many continue to work
- Bringing wisdom and experience to politics