british families Essay

Submitted By shakattack96
Words: 1317
Pages: 6

10a)
Figure 10 is showing us the changes in structure and characteristics of British families after 1960. This ultimately means changes in family, for example children, as well as it showing a rise in life expectancy as well as changes in occupation and ethnic diversity.
In 1961 there would have been an average of 3.1 children per family in comparison to 2009 where the average number of children per family is 1.8. This could possibly be due to better health care which would as a result lower the infant mortality rate. There could have also been a decrease due to better availability of contraception. This also relates to the fact that the average age of the oldest living family member was 78 in 1961 whereas in 2009 it has increased to the age of 89. This again can be to do with better health care, due to technological advancements in medicine. Also the life expectancy could have increased due to their perhaps being a better healthier lifestyle.
Furthermore, the average age of mothers when giving birth to first child has gone up from 24 to 28 from 1961 to 2009 respectively. This could possibly be because of the idea that women have had an improved status in relatively recent years. Also women in the current generation have also wanted to start careers or go into further studies. This therefore has caused to age of a women having a first child to rise. Also the average age for women would have possibly been lower in 1961 as women perhaps weren’t meant to work, due to men being more seen as the ones bringing income whilst the women would cook and clean whilst looking after children in that generation.
Also there has been a huge change in the occupations that family members had at the time because in 1961 the typical jobs was working in a car assembly line, food processing, vehicle driving, insurance sales or working in a shop, however in 2009 it know consists of financial services, teaching, television production, medicine or work. This is more achievable now than it was in 1961 due to there being higher level education as well as more people choosing to go into further education and university. This therefore would create greater affluence in the family as the jobs in 2009 offer a much higher wage than the jobs in 1961 taking into account inflation.
There has also been a change in birthplace of oldest living relative at that time, because in 1961 family members tend to born within the British Isles, however on the other hand people in 2009 tends to be all over the world ranging from India all the way to the Caribbean as well as the British isles. This could possibly occur because of more mixed ethnicity marriages or possibly due to a form of migration.

10b)
A greying population is when a population structure is in which the proportion of people aged 65 and over is high and rising. This is caused by an increasing life expectancy and can be further exaggerated by low birth rates.
The country can faces a growing burden of dependency. This can be shown by the use of a dependency ratio, which compares the proportion of a population that is economically non-productive with the proportion that generates wealth. A high score of 70 or above suggests a lack of balance, indicating that there are a relatively high numbers of dependants in comparison with working tax players. Currently the dependency ratio is rising in the UK as the number of retired people increases even though there is a fall in the number of children being born. This means that the dependency ratio may not be rising as fast as it might. At the moment, 60% of British people are working and pay the state pensions of the 21% that have retired, what this means is by 2030 it is expected that 56% of British workers will be working to support just the 27% that have retired. What this ultimately means is that there will be such a burden on future workers of Britain trying to support the elderly.
Economically pensions are taking a lot of money out of