(a) Explain any two causes of a declining population: (b) Outline any three factors which determine the size of your country's working population.

Answer Details

(a) Two causes of a declining population. A declining population occurs when deaths and emigration exceed births and immigration.

• High death rate (mortality): widespread disease, famine, war or poor medical care raises deaths above births, shrinking the population.
• Falling birth rate: late marriage, widespread family planning and the high cost of raising children reduce the number of births below the number of deaths.
• Net emigration: when more people leave the country than enter it, the population falls.

(b) Three factors that determine the size of the working population. (The working population is the number of people within the working-age bracket who are able and willing to work.)

• The total size of the population: a larger population generally yields a larger working population.
• Age distribution: a population with a high proportion in the working-age range (about 15 to 60/65 years) has a larger working population than one dominated by children and the aged.
• The official working-age limits: the legal age of entry into work and the retirement age set the size of the working-age group.
• Social and cultural factors: the extent to which women and certain groups are allowed or willing to work.
• Rate of migration: immigration of workers enlarges, and emigration reduces, the working population.

Examination reminder: the working population is not the whole population; it excludes children, full-time students, the aged and those unable or unwilling to work.