Category: Demography

Introduction of Kenya

Kenya has become an investment target for many foreign countries and investors, with China at the forefront. The Kenyan demographics profile as of 2013 was primarily affected by factors such as increased mortality rates due to HIV/AIDS. As a result, the country generally experiences low life expectancy, deteriorated population growth rates, increased death rates, and continuous sex and age distributions (Kenya, 2020). About 40 percent of Kenyas population accounts for 0-15.

It is also notable that Kenya is still operating below the expected potential and standards. As such, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) remains the solution to reviving the countrys economic status to facilitate equality in distributing its resources. Since 2013, China has been effortful in restructuring projects and improving infrastructure, especially the commonly known standard gauge railway (SGR). China has also ensured the provision of financial necessities to fuel Kenyas development agendas. Kenyas GDP for the year 2013 is as shown in the table below (Annual GDP, n.d.). The estimates for the figures for the year under analysis are based on the 2009 price estimates.

The poverty rate in Kenya has remarkably declined following the joint foreign initiatives that the country has engaged in since 2013. The graph below shows that the poverty rates have been increasing since 1992, with a slight decrease in 2013-2015.

The human development index serves as a summarized presentation of the critical human development dimensions. The HDI value for Kenya in 2012 stands at 0.522, which is a notable improvement from the previous years 0.509 (Understanding poverty, 2021). Kenyas services and agricultural sectors have outperformed others in the last decade and have caused significant economic improvements, especially in the infrastructure. The GNI/cap for Kenya from 1995 to 2015 has been increasing, as shown below.

Status of Inequality in Kenya

Kenya still struggles with robust inequality issuesthe demarcation between the richest and the poorest remains on the increase in Kenya. Approximately less than 0.1 percent own excess wealth than the remaining 99.99 percent. In short, about 83000 individuals have acquired extreme wealth than the remaining 44 million people (Edward and Sumner, 2019). The wealthiest group earns incomes about 20 times higher than that of the poorest (Edward and Sumner, 2019). The countrys labor market has also been impacted by the series of informalities evident in the past few years. Using the Gini coefficient to understand the nature of distribution in Kenya, it is clear that the countrys inequality rates are significantly high, with resources distributed unfairly. In essence, the differential approach distributing the resources has caused the continued rural-urban gaps. Also, most development projects undertaken by China focuses on the urban areas rather than being universal, leading to widening of the rural-urban gaps.

The regional disparities and the increasing marginalization is caused by the fact that most of the countrys wealth (about 36%) is controlled by a small group considered the richest (about 10%) (Measuring poverty, 2020). The vast disparities between the existing regions have contributed significantly to the limited access to social factors such as education, leading to the shortage of skills required to undertake development activities. The poor control only 2 percent of Kenyas wealth (Understanding poverty, 2021). Kenya has attained a strong relationship with foreign countries such as China and the U.S, leading to harmonized terms of trade. The two countries have adopted trade patterns that notably increase the chances for job creation. Despite the improvements, Kenya still suffers from a significant knowledge gap and deficiencies in pay premiums. The latter has been caused by the overdependence on the expatriates, especially from China. The structural changes that have occurred so far are driven by Chinese officials who assume that Kenya lacks enough expertise to undertake restructuring processes.

Different informalities such as gender, favoritism, and skills gap have affected the Kenyan labor market, leading to a broader skill premium index. The Chinese expatriates have set up several institutions to help manage the projects and create job opportunities for Kenyans to reduce poverty levels.

Presence of China in Kenya

China has treated Kenya as a gateway into the East African landscape and has used it as a strategy to robust economic investment platform. Even though the existing relationships between China and Kenya have been prejudiced for some political, economic, or social reasons and have been seen as a tactical approach used by China to invade the most creative sectors, Kenya has benefited significantly from the engagements (Bielikova & Paliderova, 2017). The infrastructure has significantly been impacted, and the virtual networks for broadening business possibilities developed. Also, such developments have been impactful in improving the quality of education due to better infrastructure, facilities, and personnel. It is, however, still arguable that the relationship between the two countries has partly eradicated and partly promoted poverty levels leading to continued inequality. When the funds are released to refurbish the various sectors, they get controlled by the wealthiest group.

The Belt and Road Initiative has had significant impacts on the Kenyan economy. The SGR will improve the transport sector because it links several places to the Port of Mombasa, a significant revenue source. Currently, the level of poverty has increased with the increase in severities associated with Covid-19 (Bigsten, Manda, Mwabu, & Wambugu, 2016). The graph below indicates the rates of poverty in Kenya before and after the outbreak of the pandemic. The latter has caused distractions in business, and the planned development agendas remained hanging.

The World Bank Group highlights how poverty levels remain high in Kenya and other third-world countries due to the pandemic and uncalculated economic development plans.

References

Annual GDP. (n.d.). Web.

Bielikova, A., & Paliderova, M. (2017). Impact of foreign direct investments on the economy. New Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4), 235-240.

Bigsten, A., Manda, D. K., Mwabu, G., & Wambugu, A. (2016). Incomes, inequality, and poverty in Kenya. Growth and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, 343-369.

Edward, P., & Sumner, A. (2019). The end of poverty: Inequality and growth in global perspective. Springer.

Kenya. (2020). Web.

Measuring poverty. (2020). Web.

Understanding poverty. (2021). Web.

Plan for Data Analysis of Demographic Variables

To identify associations between the demographic variables, correlational descriptive statistics tests will be used. The correlation coefficient will be the key focus to show how closely the two or more variables are related. The regression equation and the correlation coefficient will be calculated based on the dependence between the variables if they at least approximately can be regarded as linear.

Otherwise, the results may be completely incorrect. In particular, the correlation coefficient may be close to zero in the presence of a strong relationship. This is typical for cases when the dependence is nonlinear, for example, the dependence between variables is approximately described by a sinusoid or parabola (Sullivan & Verhoosel, 2017). In many cases, this problem can be circumvented by transforming the original variables. However, to guess the need for such a transformation and find out that data can contain complex forms of dependence, it is essential to detect them. That is why the study of the interrelationships between quantitative variables will also include viewing scattering diagrams.

In other words, the correlation coefficients will help to establish whether it is possible to predict the possible values of one indicator knowing the value of the other or not. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to check whether there is a connection between the responses of parents and children to restricted access to sugary and fatty foods and their age and gender. This is likely to allow asserting that, for example, the older the person, the more critical will be his or her views and vice versa. At the same time, to strengthen the analysis of variables, Spearman correlation will also be used.

Plan for Data Analysis of Study Variables

Descriptive and inferential statistical tests will be applied to analyze study variables, both dependent and independent as well as extraneous ones. The use of inferential statistics will allow a researcher to understand if the pattern is actual or occurs by chance. Since inferential statistics is a branch of analysis that deals with concluding a population-based on measurements obtained from a representative sample of this population, the key to determining whether it affects is measuring the statistical value, as noted by Mertler and Reinhart (2016).

The latter will show the connections between the variables that are probably not due to the usual chance, and that the real dependency between the two variables is most likely. In this connection, the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test will be used. It implies that the average populations from which the samples were extracted are equal, in other words, they all belong to the same population, and the differences are random. To test hypotheses in the case of variance analysis, the F distribution will be used. F-statistics takes only positive or zero values.

The procedure of the variance analysis will consist of determining the ratio of systematic (intergroup) dispersion to random (intra-group) variance in the measured data (Mertler & Reinhart, 2016). It seems also essential to point out that as a measure of variability, the sum of the squares of deviation of the parameter values from the mean is used Sum of Squares (SS). Ultimately, the generalization of data from sample studies will be made based on techniques determining to what extent the relationships identified in the sample describe the characteristics of the general population along with their importance.

References

Mertler, C. A., & Reinhart, R. V. (2016). Advanced and multivariate statistical methods: Practical application and interpretation. New York, NY: Routledge.

Sullivan, M., & Verhoosel, J. C. M. (2017). Statistics: Informed decisions using data (5th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

In the present study, the data analyses section will comprise two components: demographic analysis and the analysis of the research variables.

Descriptive Plan for Data Analysis for Demographic Variables

The analysis of demographic variables is targeted at comparing the demographic variables with the main variables studied in the research for identifying whether there are potential confounding relationships between the two (Alspelmeier, 2010). To determine whether there is an association between the demographic variables (participants age, sex, ethnicity, health care status) and the primary variables of interest in the present study (BMI and the success of the medical intervention), the following plan will be followed:

Conducting a series of univariate analyses, such as:

• Pearsons chi-square test for measuring the relationships between categorical variables. In the case of the present study, the chi-square test for testing goodness of fit will be the most appropriate since it will allow the researcher to decide whether there are any differences between the experimental and the theoretical value (Alspelmeier, 2010).
• Independent sample t-test as well as the one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance) test for measuring the relationship between numerical and categorical variables (Alspelmeier, 2010) such as BMI and a certain demographic variable. For example, it is important to measure whether there is a relationship between the ethnicity of the study participants and their BMI (obesity status) due to the findings that ethnicity can relate to individuals obesity-related behaviors both among children and adults (Falconer et al., 2014)

Descriptive Plan for Data Analysis for Study Variables

The main analysis of variables will test the formulated hypotheses with the use of the univariate approach. Association between the participants BMI and the success of the medical intervention implementation will be tested through Pearsons correlations, which measures the linear relationship between two variables. The second set of data analyses will compare the changes in BMI among participants that have been exposed to different types of interventions (alterations in the quality of care, diet interventions, exercise interventions) with the use of ANOVA procedures. It is recommended to conduct the text in three directions:

• The first ANOVA test will compare the BMI scores of the entire sample involved in the research on adult obesity (Alspelmeier, 2010).
• The second ANOVA test will compare the scores of only those participants who scored above the BMI obesity-related mean after the implementation of the medical intervention.
• The third ANOVA test will compare the scores of only those participants who scored below the BMI obesity-related mean after the implementation of the medical intervention.

The final set of analyses will use Pearsons r for testing the remaining hypothesis. The first analysis will comprise of the correlation tests for determining the association of participants changes in weight and overall health scores after being exposed to the medical intervention. Overall, the presented data analysis plan will be focusing on measuring the effectiveness of healthcare and lifestyle interventions implementation for reducing the BMI of adults diagnosed with obesity. BMI is the key variable on which the present study will focus since it allows for a reliable and quick measurement of individual weight status. The issue of obesity has never been as important as today (Hruby, 2015); therefore, the present study will aim to measure whether obese adults could improve their health by integrating better quality of care or lifestyle interventions into their everyday lives.

References

Alspelmeier, J. (2010). How to write methods, results, and discussion.Web.

Falconer, C., Park, M., Croker, H., Kessel, A., Saxena, S., Viner, M., & Kinra, S. (2014). Can the relationship between ethnicity and obesity-related behaviors among school-aged children be explained by deprivation? A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open, 4, 1-10.

Hruby, A. (2015). The epidemiology of obesity: A big picture. Pharmacoeconomics, 33(7), 673-689.

Shifting demographic is always an important component of market research. Yet, the contemporary changes in the consumer base are especially noteworthy. The report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (2015) has explored the substitution of baby boomers with younger generations as primary consumers and has outlined its implications for the retailing industry. Although the information used in the report may seem outdated, the described characteristics of consumers remain relevant even today.

Overall, the outlook on the changing demographics implies that managing the new customer base has become increasingly complex. Specifically, the challenge is created by the rapid advance of technology and sudden abundance of information. Unlike their baby boomer ancestors, contemporary consumers are more capricious. The wide availability of products and services allows customers to quickly shift preferred brands and makes them less prone to the influence of a specific market strategy.

In essence, the shift in generations has also caused the shift of the central force in retailing from companies to consumers. The report notes that in order to stay competitive, a company has to meet so many expectations placed by consumers that this task seems almost not feasible (PricewaterhouseCoopers). This is the most frustrating aspect of the report  it outlines in detail what businesses should achieve but does not explain how to accomplish it.

Naturally, existing companies understand this complexity and look for ways to avoid it altogether. One way of gaining consumer attention without catering to their desires is to use their psychology against them. It is more cost-effective to convince the target population that the business can offer exactly what they search for without increasing the value of products and services (Handbook of consumer psychology, 2018). Paradoxically, even though the generation of consumers has changed, old marketing methods are nonetheless effective.

References

Handbook of consumer psychology. (2018). Taylor & Francis.

PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2015). Retailing 2015: New frontiers. Web.

Introduction

Demographic change refers to changes in the size, composition, and distribution of a population over time. Real estate includes the rights of ownership and use; everything immovable and tangible that comprises property can be classified as real estate, including houses. Basically, anything natural or man-made which has a value assignable to it by law comes under real estate. As the worlds population continues to grow, the need for living space will become increasingly important. As a result, people can expect to see rising prices and greater competition for prime properties in the years to come. As more and more people move into cities, the demand for urban living spaces will only increase. Due to the increase of the population in urban areas, real estate will have to put up more modern structures; various building technologies and trends will help in controlling the growing need for residential houses.

Growing Population and the Need for Living Space

As the worlds population and need for living space continue to grow, the demand for housing naturally increases as well. This is beneficial for the real estate market, as it means that prices are likely to continue to rise in the years to come. However, this increased demand similarly comes with its own set of challenges. For one, it will become increasingly difficult to find affordable housing in major metropolitan areas (Bah et al., 2018). Second, given the ever-growing population, it will become increasingly important for developers and builders to create smart, sustainable communities that can accommodate everyone. Building technologies can help in a number of ways to manage population increase. One way is by providing the means to build homes faster, thus accommodating more people. Another way is through automation and management of building systems which leads to improved efficiency and often reduced costs associated with housing and servicing a larger population (Ratcliffe et al., 2021). Additionally, new building materials and construction methods are always being developed which will help reduce the environmental impact of housing growth while still providing comfortable and safe homes for people.

House prices are determined by the supply and demand for housing. When there is more demand than supply, prices go up. Building new homes increases the supply of housing and brings down prices. Technological advances that make home-building cheaper and faster will help to bring down house prices. For example, the 3D printing of houses will drastically reduce construction time and costs (Ratcliffe et al., 2021). Similarly, automated construction using robotics can reduce costs; these technologies will make it possible to build many more homes, thus making houses cheaper due to increased supply.

The vertical building is the keyway to meet the growing demand for houses without congestion in residential regions. As the population continues to grow, the demand for housing will only continue to increase. Fortunately, there are a number of building trends that can help to ease this demand. Some of these trends include building upwards instead of outwards; this can help to save space and reduce the need for new construction. The upward building design is becoming more popular in response to the growing demand for houses (England and Farkas, 2017). This design allows for more homes to be built on a smaller piece of land, and it is a more efficient use of space. Vertical building similarly has other benefits; it allows for natural light and ventilation to flow through the home, which helps to reduce energy costs as a result of using the air conditioner. And because the homes are stacked on top of each other, one apartment can accommodate six people, thereby creating spaces for constructing other buildings, thus managing the growing demand for houses in the real estate.

Urbanization and Moving to the Suburbs

Urbanization can be defined as the process by which cities and towns grow and develop. It is a complex phenomenon that involves both economic and social changes. There are many factors that contribute to urbanization, such as natural population growth, rural-to-urban migration, and international immigration (Bah et al., 2018). As more people move into cities, they put pressure on the existing infrastructure and services, which can lead to problems such as overcrowding, congestion, and higher costs of living.

The real estate industry is affected by people moving to the suburbs in a few ways. First, when people move to the suburbs, they often need to buy a home, and this increases the demand for housing. This can lead to increased prices and more competition among buyers, which can be good for sellers but a disadvantage for buyers (England and Farkas, 2017). Second, moving to the suburbs means that people are settling down and starting a family, and this usually means that they will need more space than what they had in the city. This can lead to an increase in demand for single-family homes relative to apartments, which can lead to increased prices or less available inventory in certain markets.

On the contrary, the increase in families in urban areas globally has definitely had an effect on the real estate industry, most notably in the construction of new homes. Families require more space than single individuals or couples, so home builders have had to create homes with more rooms and larger living spaces to accommodate them. This trend is especially pronounced in Asia, where the population density is much higher, and many families live in multi-generational households (Bah et al., 2018). As cities continue to grow and more people move into urban areas, people can expect this trend to continue and for the real estate industry to adapt accordingly. Families are an important part of the housing market, and their needs must be taken into account when constructing new homes or planning redevelopment projects.

The impact of urbanization on the real estate industry is significant. The primary impacts is that there is a need to construct many more houses to accommodate the influx of people into cities. This has a ripple effect on the rest of the industry, as developers and builders rush to meet demand, and workers are needed to build and maintain these dwellings (Ratcliffe et al., 2021). Additionally, as cities become more densely populated, demand for commercial real estate increases. Office space and retail outlets become scarcer, and prices rise; this can be advantageous for those in the industry, but it can also lead to the displacement of longtime residents who can no longer afford rising rents.

The rapid pace of urbanization can similarly have a negative impact on the real estate industry. And this is that it can lead to the growth of slums and neighborhoods with inadequate housing as people move to cities in search of work and opportunity (England and Farkas, 2017). This can have two effects: drive up prices for cramped, substandard housing, or house more people in squalor with little hope of improving their situation. The growth of slums can be a result of the constructors not being able to afford the cost of recommended modern materials for building. Likewise, it can be due to the inability of the poor to manage to pay for the executive houses.

The present population in the residential regions dictates the types of structures to be constructed. The increase of the poor in urban areas has led to a need for more low-cost housing, which has resulted in the construction of cheap, small, and poorly structured houses. This has had a negative effect on the real estate industry, as it has forced developers to build low-quality housing that is not in demand by wealthier residents. As a result, developers have been forced to abandon or delay planned projects, which has led to a decrease in the value of existing properties (Bah et al., 2018). On the other hand, the rich peoples increment in urban areas has led to the construction of modern and better houses. This is because these individuals can afford to pay for high-quality homes. As a result, the real estate industry has benefited from this trend. Moreover, this has similarly increased competition among developers, which has ultimately led to improved home standards overall.

Conclusion

In conclusion, an increase in population in any region will always increase the demand for accommodation houses in the real estate industry. Different building technologies and trends are available to help in the creation of the structures that will be needed by the residents in the future. Some of the development expected from the real estate industry due to residents number increment includes the increase of structures both in numbers and quality that matches the population. In the urban setup, building trends such as vertical buildings are preferred to accommodate the huge number of occupants. The constructors should have structures that match the populations socioeconomic status. Modern building technologies will aid in constructing high-quality apartments for the rich; they will likewise fasten the building speed. On the other hand, there will be different trends, such as the adoption of the slums system to accommodate the poor.

Reference List

Bah, E.H.M., Faye, I. and Geh, Z.F. (2018) Housing market dynamics in Africa. Springer Nature.

England, P. and Farkas, G. (2017) Households, employment, and gender: A social, economic, and demographic view. Routledge.

Ratcliffe, J., Stubbs, M. and Keeping, M. (2021) Urban planning and real estate development. Routledge.

Population

Many factors play into the evolution of our population now compared to a century ago. As mentioned in our book “Population; An Introduction to Concepts and Issues,” the rise of life expectancy is the “most important phenomenon in human history.” Population growth has presented transformations in human society since the beginning of human history. The increase in population growth has led to a longer life expectancy due to healthier eating and medical advances, in comparison to a century ago when there weren’t proper medical treatments or healthier eating habits. Now we have higher immigration, births, and more medical technology which allows for higher growth in population. Another factor, technology, has advanced to unbelievable lengths since a century ago. A vast majority of our population relies on technology more than ever before. Technology controls every aspect of our lives whether it be through mobile devices or new medical technology. Over a century ago we did not have smart computers, televisions, watches, or phones that we could use for just about everything. A century ago we did not have advanced medical technology that offers x-rays and early detections of genetic diseases and cancers. Technology has pushed our creativity and innovations to levels that were once an unimaginable concept. Life expectancy, another factor, has increased tremendously compared to a century ago. According to the University of Oxford’s world data, life expectancy was less than forty years across the nation over a century ago compared to the over 80 years that we have reached presently. Sanitation and hygiene, a reason for higher life expectancy, is more common now than it was a century ago. In class, we discussed how showers were not common over a century ago and that people would only take one or two showers a year compared to the five and six showers we presently take per week. Vaccinations also became prominent and have resulted in the elimination of diseases that were highly common and deadly in the nation. Overall population, technology, and life expectancy have improved human life compared to a century ago.

Demography

Many factors can influence the demography of a location. Every day the world’s democracy experiences change. One factor that influences demography is immigration. The United States, for example, receives an absolute number of immigrants, whether they are legal or undocumented. Immigration changes the demography of a population daily, specific to the location of choice. The USA is stricter on immigration and works hard to prevent undocumented immigrants from crossing the border, however, some immigrants are not caught during the immigration movement, this plays a huge role in demography as well. Another factor that plays into the influence of demography is birth and death rates. Every hour demography changes due to the birth and death rates of humans. Birth and death rates not only affect the population but its effects on how to move forward with a population and helps determine whether a larger amount of resources will be needed.

The migration of people into other countries is a major part of the demography of the modern world. How do you think the world of 2050 will look demographically as a consequence of the trends currently in place?

Migration has always existed and is not unfamiliar to our country. Migration has diversified our society. Through migration, we have been exposed to different cultures, languages, and traditions. Demographically, I assume the world will be incredibly expansive in 2050. Migration changes the population presently as it has a century ago. Through migration, we will be introduced to new and unfamiliar languages and cultures. Though migration is slightly different from immigration they both play a huge role in society. Just as migration was very common a century ago, it will be even more common thirty years from now. Most people are more welcoming to those that enter their territory from different regions of the world. Overall migration will become more welcoming though current trends may say otherwise. The migration will continue to make different societies more racially and ethnically diverse whether it be through religion, cultures, or languages.

If death and birth rates were both high, then little growth would occur. The population would most likely remain consistent. Life for a person living society with high death and birth rates would be sketchy. It would be troublesome to know that there are high death rates in the population with which you are located. This would lead to the person finding ways to preserve life whether through healthy eating, exercising, or mental health. Living in a society with high birth rates could cause a “scare” for overpopulation and the number of available resources. High birth rates would influence a person’s life through new policies and education procedures as well as the populations in the city they live in. High birth and death rates will cause a consciously aware state of mind.

The statement that “nearly everything is connected to demography” is legitimate because almost everything is. Demography has a connection to our society, and issues that we experience throughout it. Demography affects our population, education, life expectancy, and death and birth rates. The quote “demography determines everything” is different in comparison to “nearly everything is connected to demography” because demography determines the population, census, and demand of resources. Demography determines new policies that will be created, housing resources, and educational determines. Demographers study the change of human populations to determine how to move forward concerning future populations.

Abstract

Demography and survivorship describe population characteristics, such as age-specific survival and life expectancy of a specific species. Survivorship graphically represents the life expectancy through three types of curves: type I, type II, and type III. These curves represented the male and female data found on the cemetery tombstones. Tombstones were broken into three categories, depending on death year, in order to avoid overlapping data. Male and female survivorship data showed different results due to multifaceted reasons and different sociocultural perspectives during different given years.

Introduction

Population size changes through the effects of birth, immigration, deaths, and emigration (Human Demography Lab Handout). Survivorship and demography help understand human longevity through the lens of the effects of population size changes. However, the purpose of this study was to study the birth, survival, and death of the given population. Survivorship curves were created for three sections of the population- females and males who dies pre-1901, females and males who died between 1901-1950, and females and males who died post-1950. Other studies provide insight as to why survivorship curves between females and males were different depending on given years, such as the fact that women throughout the 1900’s were more domestic and rarely held a job outside of societal demand, whereas men were doing more labor-intensive work and going off to war (Sassler, 2000). Data was collected from a town cemetery in Farmville, Virginia and pre-organized into categories in order to calculate age of death of the females and males buried there. The hypothesis that was tested during this study was that the females and males in the pre-1901 group and the 1901-1950 group had less of a chance of surviving compared to the post-1950 group because of warfare, lack of proper medical care, cultural norms, and genetic predispositions. Furthermore, we are hypothesizing that males have less chance of surviving across the board than females.

Methods

Data was collected from Westview Cemetery in Farmville, Virginia. In order to avoid overlapping data points, the headstones were split into different sections. Data was recorded by different groups by the age of death. Groups 1 and 2 recorded females and males who died before 1901, groups 3 and 4 recorded females and males who dies between 1901 and 1950, and lastly, groups 5 and 6 recorded females and males who dies post-1950 (Human Demography Lab Handout). If the names on the headstones were not legible or the name does not determine the gender of deceased, that headstone was omitted from the record. In total, at least 100 data points were collected encompassing all sections. All data points were then entered into an excel spread sheet and analyzed.

Data Analysis

The collected data within the excel sheet was analyzed with a two-sample t-test that found the average, standard deviation, and standard error for females and males from pre-1901, 1901-150, and post-1950. These numbers were then used to create survivorship curves and bar graphs showing the average life span of the females and males in Farmville, Va.

Results

Our study found that females had a longer life span than males during pre-1901, 1901-1950, and after-1950. The oldest age of death for a female for pre-1901 was 41 years old, while the male was 37 years old (Figure 2). The same results occurred for the 1901-150 group with the oldest female being 56 years old and the oldest male being 54 years old (Figure 2). Post-1950 contained the largest difference between ages of death with the oldest female being 74 years old and the oldest male being only 67 years old (Figure 2). These result support our hypothesis that females would survive longer than men across the board in all three groups. Our second hypothesis was also proven true in that females and males in the pre-1901 and 1901-1950 groups had less chance of surviving compared to the post-1950 group. The bar graph shows the first two bars are smaller than the last bar that is representing post-1950 (Figure 2). Statistics show that the exact average life span, using t-values, for females was -9.4935 with a p-value of 1.763e-12. The exact average life span, using t-values, for males was -7.257 with a p-value of 1.496e-10. Figure 1 conveys survivorship curves for the females and males in Farmville throughout the years we collected data on. Females and males pre-1901 show a type III survivorship curve, meaning the people alive during that time faced high mortality rates and did not age very far. Females and males from 1901-1950 show a type II survivorship curve, meaning they face a more constant survival rate. Lastly, females and males post-1950 show a type I survivorship curve, meaning they face high survival rates, low infant mortality, and survive till old age. However, in all survivorship curves, females show a higher survivorship than men (Figure 1).

Discussion

The results from the bar graphs and survivorship curves show a significant difference in the average age of death. Females tend to out-live men for multiple reasons. As stated before, in the early 1900’s, women were more prone to taking care of the household instead of hands-on labor in the work force that carries more risk (Sassler, 2000[2]). Genetics also play a role in as to why females survive longer than men. Females have different biological makeups than men, which allows for the different results we found during our study. Some of the biological differences include, hormonal and cellular responses to stress, immune function, and metabolic substrate handling among others (Seifarth BHK, 2012). Race also plays a part in the difference of age of death for females and males- specifically in Farmville, Virginia. Farmville is a predominantly African American male community- meaning they have predisposed genetic deficiencies, along with more of a chance of catching topical or internal diseases (Anderson, 1996).

Survivorship curves are able to show how human population dynamics change over time in Farmville. Based off of our results, we can conclude that the pre-1901 survivorship curve was type III because of the lack of resources available, such as food, proper medicine, and vaccinations, meaning the population would rapidly decrease. Groups 1901-1950 and post-1950 are type II survivorship and type I survivorship, which makes sense considering as the years progress, modern medicine has been implemented and there are more resources available for the population demand.

Some limitations of the study include inconsistencies when collecting data; there were more male tombstones than female tombstones in the cemetery. We only collected data from one cemetery in Farmville instead of multiple cemeteries. The last limitation with this study was the amount of data we collected overall. A set of 30 data points is an alright amount of data to collect, however, with our study, some of the data we collected did not reach 30 data points. After this study, we were able to generate more questions, such as, what would be the results if we expanded our field study area? Does upbringing have an effect on the age of death of females or males within a population? In the future, these are the questions we could ask to go into depth on human demography and survivorship of males and females in Farmville, Virginia.

References

1. Sex and Life Expectancy https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550857912001830
2. Seifarth BHK, J.E. (2012). Sex and Life Expectancy. Science Direct. 9(6), 390-401.
3. Dr. Henkanaththegedara. (2019). Human Demography Lab Handout. Introduction to Ecology and Evolution. 1-7.
4. LEARNING TO BE AN “AMERICAN LADY”: Ethnic Variation in Daughters’ Pursuits in the Early 1900s https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/089124300014001010
5. Sassler, S. (2000). Learning to be an “American Lady” Ethnic Variation in Daughter’s Pursuits in the Early 1900’s. Gender & Society. 14(1), 184- 209
6. Immunities of Empire: Race, Disease, and the New Tropical Medicine, 1900–1920 https://www.jstor.org/stable/44444595?seq=4#metadata_info_tab_contents
7. Anderson, W. (1996). Immunities of Empire: Race, Disease, and the New Tropical Medicine from 1900-1920. Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 70(1), 94-118.

Demography is the statistical sample of people, particularly in terms of size and density, distribution and vital statistics such as births, marriages, deaths, etc. History has its own ups and downs forever, and demography has been helping us since forever to study the effect of different eras on population dynamics. Life tables are used with the information of the life and death rates. Demography is a core related science to evolution and ecology as it is mentioned in the article Demography beyond the population by Alden B. Griffith, “connecting demography beyond the population level offers promising avenues of innovation in ecology and evolution” Demography is not only linked with a certain criteria but also help with the wide variety of sciences. In demography the statistical method is used to measure the population growth rate, its responsiveness to life-history variables and related figures, such as stable population spread and reproductive quality of exponentially growing populations, in which the history of individual life is defined as a continuous evolution over time.

In order to understand demography, one needs to understand that births and deaths are facts of life. The natural phenomenon for this life cycle quite straightforward; when the birth rate exceeds the death rate, the population increases and when death rate is more than the birth rate the population decrease. In order to understand the conceptuality of this process a lot of life tables and survivorship curves have been introduced, and were quite logical to compute the arithmetic and geometric data. In terms of demography and life histories a lot of researches have been done to enumerate human population growth and transition, fertility and mortality, future population trends, age dependency ratio, population momentum, and many more. This proves that the basic purpose of using demographics tool is to record and predict the events of death and birth rates along with acknowledging the change in population size- thus a feasible technique not only for documenting the statistical studies of humans but also plants, animals, wildlife, forestry etc. Each population varies from the other, and so the survivorship such as humans and Eel life cycle is different so does their death and birth rates. Humans have internal fertilization, and Eels have external fertilization. Humans produce twenty plus youngs in their life (most live) , while Eels have ten thousand plus youngs (most die).

Human’s offsprings required parental care that last for sixteen plus years while Eels’ offspring does not require any parental care. All these features that differentiates one population from the other proved that their survivorship curve would also have variation. The reason for variation is because of the difference in age and fecundity, as fecundity are the factor that got affected the most by the age and environment particularly in humans. In order to discriminate the patterns between variety of populations, biologists use life tables. Life table would permit them to collect information about life spans for each of them individually. Cemetery is the best place to understand the core idea of human demography. All the gravestones have date of death and birth which makes it easier to collect data relatively. Later that data can be used to make a data of a human population, and make a survivorship curve. In demography and life history there is no true “if and then” statement but it is noteworthy that collecting accurate data would help us document statistical studies.

In terms of collecting data, all the cemeteries are a perfect place to visit. I visited a cemetery near my house “Rosehill Cemetery” The information was collected from ninety plus gravestones for the individuals born between 1870-1930.The headstones were not chosen in specific order instead were picked randomly from the whole cemetery. Later death rates were used to calculate the age for the deceased individuals. The data I had collected may have some sort of biases based on variation in religious preference, social stratas etc.

As it can be seen through the data from the survivorship graph I found at “Rosehill Cemetery” that most of the people died in their fifties to the eighties. This data might have some fluctuation because of fact of data can be biased as cemetery has people from different social strata and religions. While we usually have three types of curves, Type 1(human), Type 2 (Birds), Type 3 (Tress). In the survivorship curve I had, the mortality rate increased during the old age, and it’s pretty common to live through the middle and young age. In type1(humans) they usually have a small number of offspring, and provide excessive parental care which became one of the most common reasons for the longest life span. This data was recorded during 1870-1930, when the world was in the havoc of wars and economic crisis, when technology was not as advanced as it is today but the majority of people were able to compete and survive.

There was one example in the textbook about the female Lacerta Vivipara, survivorship for the curve for Lacerta Vivipara is Type 2. Most bird species have a Type II success curve. In the Type II curve, organisms die somewhat equally at each age bracket. Organizations with this form of survival curve may also have fairly few children and provide substantial parental care. The life span for Lacerta Vivipara could be approximately four to six years. As lizard gets older it has higher survivorship as compared to human beings. When a human being gets older they have less tendency to work as their bones get weaker. Most of the women tend to have osteoporosis while when lizards get older they have a tendency to produce more offspring.

In another example, Dall mountain Sheep (Ovis Dalli) showed the same survivorship curve as humans (Type 1). This a more of K-selected species, which usually live in an environment with intense competition which gradually makes them more stable and stronger. There was a study done in Denali National Park in by Olaus Marie in 1944, in which the age of death was recorded for 608 species. The data shows some variation as in the beginning there would be more death rates as compared to humans but soon it slows down and most death occurs during the old age,which shows similarity with Type 1 curve. In the data I collected from the cemetery the graph shown as humans get older the death rate increased. In this study by Olaus Marie, same pattern has been seen but in the last 12-15 years the death rate drops rapidly.

Based on what I have found, it is probably true that in most of the species parental care can increase the life span, as most of the species with type1 curve have had heavy parental care. In terms of human growth other factors also contributed such as technology, food and agricultural growth, rapid urbanization, female literacy, access to healthcare etc.

It was quite shocking for me to see how different populations have different curves. I was expecting a slight change in the curve, but there are drastic changes. Before I used to think as all the species grow their fertility rate goes down, it was new to me that lizards have more offsprings in the end years of their life. To understand this topic in a better way, I decided to draw survivorship curves for different population. I used findagrave.com website just to learn more about recent death rates and had played around while making different survivorship curves. It was for humans so the results were the same as Type 1. After this, I am feeling more acknowledge about making curves and how I can make a curve for any species if right darta for life table is given.

References

1. British Ecological Society Special Feature: Demography Beyond the Population (2016) (Vol. 104) Pg (271-610)
2. Johan Ehrlén, Climate change in grasslands – demography and population dynamics, Grasslands and Climate Change, (172-187), (2019).
3. Citation: Rauschert, E. (2010) Survivorship Curves. Nature Education Knowledge 3(10):18
4. Sanderson, Population Ecology Lab, Dall sheap life table, Nature Education Knowledge (2010)

As a starting point, I have been asking myself multiple times if globalization is good or greater good. In general, we can see that globalization is essential due to the fact that it gives us what we demand, however, we can’t see the things that affect the countries negatively. The developing countries are the most commiserable in terms of development and inequality. Specifically, in developing countries like China, this country has been globalized since then, even though Shanghai, China is the manufacturing industry in the world, moreover, for the past couple of years, China has been very popular in every aspect of the country for the reason that they have a wide range of businesses around the world. Also, many businesses and trade originated in the said country yet they are still known or qualify as developing countries. Nevertheless, it continues to slow down its development because this country has been well-known for its population. Thenceforth, China has been overpopulated in 1949 after World War II since they believe that having more children will result in more money for the country, can produce more food, and develop a massive and stronger army that is why parents back then are more encouraged to produce more children (White, 2006) but it is really evident that their conclusion is wrong. The demography of China has been rapidly growing and it has a massive impact on their development. In spite of the fact that China has been promoting many laws that can lessen their demography, we can see that it is not effective since they are still the number one out of the ten most populous countries (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Because of this, their culture, life, and belief are fluctuating, furthermore, an enormous population will have a negative impact not just in the country but also on those living inside. Having a lot of children is not a sin but it has a good and bad effect on themselves and on their surroundings because of that their development will not grow and inequality will occur. Over the last few years, overpopulation has been a problem not just in China but all over the world, there are lots of solutions that the government suggested yet the problem is still there. If we continue to live in this situation the risk will be bigger than we already have.

For a couple of years, China has been very popular in terms of the political and economic aspects. Furthermore, because of globalization, China has a global strategy in which they combine it with the market-specific approach. The said country is becoming a new champion of trade and globalization (Lu, 2018). In view of the fact that the country is really popular, thanks to globalization. Businesses in China are looking forward to enlarging their business in all corners of the world. Because of that, their relationship with the other countries makes them a powerful country, in which inequality occurs. There is an inequality between rural and urban income distribution in China, nowadays, the income of rural workers is not equally distributed to urban workers (Wu, 2005). The second out of ten countries that has vast gaps between the rich and the poor is China (Suneson & Stebbins, 2019). The Gini coefficient of China is 0.482 wherein it is close to 1 and when it is close to 1 it represents that there is an unequal distribution (Han, et al.,2016). When a country has large demography inequality is really impossible to disappear since it is hard to control each of the citizens. According to Thomas Malthus, a British scholar in his essay entitled “An Essay on the Principle of Population”, he said that in the middle of the 19th century .population growth will result in war, calamity, and food production will be limited. Citizens in China are concerned with their food safety, in addition, they demand great quality food but with the help of technology, Chinese doctors create an ear of hybrid wheat and hybrid rice. Nonetheless, because of their population, there is a degradation of land and resources, also, there is a limited living condition (Cook, 1999).

Since there is a massive growth of population in the whole world, the American policy journal Foreign Affairs introduced the use of contraception and sterilization. The use of birth control is still an argument, however, they introduced it to control the risk of the downfall of the global economy, as well as the social and political problems. The American Foreign Affairs thinks that with the help of the birth control program they can rebuild their development and control population, especially in developing countries. China, which is the most populous country in several years has been thinking of a lot of ways on how to control its population, for instance, in 1979, China implemented a law that says one child per family policy (Li, 1995). This law is still present and effective, those parents who have only a child will have a benefit given by the government, for instance, cash and medical care (Wang, 1996; White, 2006) but those who did not follow the policy will be either 50% tax or they will lose their job. Moreover, those who have unplanned pregnancies without authorization will be terminated (Hilali, 1997). In addition to that, in 1980, the specific region will only have a set amount of population and when the amount is surpassed, the local office will be punished (Cook, 1999). The policy of controlling the population does not stop there, another policy to control the population, the institute birth control programs, and economic changes, they have set a goal in the early ’80s to sterilize those families who have two children and it is also mandatory for them (Hilali, 1997). In 1983, 35% are successful regarding birth control methods like vasectomy and abortion (Hilali, 1997). With all the policies that were implemented Chinese government sought that opportunity to change from agriculture to industry. They believe that economic growth is very important rather than population growth. In my point of view, the program must be implemented as family planning because I believe that with the right family planning it will have a bigger impact on the development of the country. Free birth control is what people demand nowadays and I think that this program will surely be effective. I do agree with the use of birth control since many people only want the pleasure but not having children on their own and the best way to prevent that is to have birth control. Demography in any country is really important particularly in China since overall it affects the social, political, and economic aspects.

To sum up, everything that has been stated, one of the major problems in China is their demography. There are lots of policies that pertain to their population which can help to control the overall necessities of the country. If the demography in the said country will continue to grow there will be a possibility that the risk will be bigger than we are currently experiencing, furthermore, the evidence of food shortage, the war between other countries, and degradation of land and resources are already enough to take action. As a student, finding and recommending a way to solve this issue is one of our responsibilities for the future generations. Family planning program and creating a new set of necessities like food with the help of technology we can limit its risk. Moreover, I think giving free birth control, for instance, condoms will ensure the declining demography. This globalization-induced issues like demography peculiarly in food shortage and birth control is what people need to know.

The population decline and aging, which mainly cause a decline in the workforce as a fundamental element of economic growth, are one of the most urgent demographic issues facing Japan today (Lam, 2009). At present, Japan has an elderly population aged 65 or over, accounting for 28 percent, and has entered a super-aging society since 2007, in other words, one out of every four Japanese is an elderly person (Green, 2017), and by 2030, one in three people will be aged 65 or older (Muramatsu and Akiyama, 2011). Furthermore, Low fertility refers to a phenomenon in which the fertility rate falls below the fertility rate required for population maintenance. Japan has had a declining fertility rate for the 37th consecutive year since 1980 (Jiji, 2018). The birth rate in 2018 has been at a record low for the past century and is less than a million for the past three years (McCurry, 2018). An aging society and low fertility do not simply mean an increase in the number of elderly people and a decline in total population. These problems mean huge economic and social changes that can change adversely the way of life in various aspects such as production, culture, and economy especially for labour forces (Coulmas, 2008; Lam, 2009; Muramatsu and Akiyama, 2011). To solve these problems, the government has carried out various efforts such as, raising the retirement age, womenomics, childcare systems that encourage economic growth and promote the economic participation rate of female and the elderly (Colacelli and Corugedo, 2018). Additionally, as one of the solutions, immigration policy which has been opposed by the belief in the single ethnicity of Japanese society, is now a major issue between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition parties as well as the Japanese society.

Therefore, this essay will evaluate how this immigration policy affects the demographic challenges facing Japan today and can be a solution to the problems. First, this article will explore the main problems of demographic issues to better understand of the current environment. Second, it will discuss how this new immigration policy can serve as a solution to these embedded problems in japan where has a single ethnic background.

Firstly, it is seen as an increase in social security cost due to Japan’s aging population and low fertility. Japan is expected to see its social security spending increase 1.6 times (190 trillion yen) by the year 2040 (Masahiro, 2018). The estimate is that a quarter of Japan’s GDP will be spent on social security in 2040, mainly due to snowballing costs for supporting the elderly. With the proportion of senior citizens in the structure of the population reaching a maximum of more than one-third, the cost of the elderly in the economically participating population leads to heavy burdens not only on the government’s finances but also on the nation’s growth engine. Also, the per capita tax burden will increase as the national budget spent on social welfare for the elderly increases significantly, while the portion of tax payers will be lowered. After all this increase in government spending on social security will reduce the government’s long-term investment funding capacity, as well as tighten fiscal pressure and significantly reduce the economic growth potential in japan (Halter and Hemming, 1987; Kitao, 2015). Furthermore, the issue of reducing and ageing population negatively affects GDP growth due to the implications of a downward trend in labour input as a less productive workforce may cause fall in capital asset (Lam, 2009). This result in a decline in private savings which in turn depreciates current account interest rates leading to a further decrease of tax revenue and increase of government expenditure.

Secondly, the low fertility rate, which rarely shows signs of recovery, is also fueling the shortage of workers. In order to maintain and increase the population, the fertility rate should be at least 2.07 or higher, but as of the end of 2017, Japan’s fertility rate stood at 1.43-points. (The Japan Times, 2019a). To address the ever-decreasing labor shortage, the Japanese government is implementing a variety of measures, including expanding the recruitment of foreign students while granting parental leave to male spouses in order to secure female labor force and raising the retirement age from 60 to 65 years old (Sadafumi, 2017). However, the Japanese Ministry of Health, labour and welfare, which has seen its workforce shrink due to its aging and low birthrate, reported an average of 159 jobs per 100 job seekers in 2017 (The Japan Times, 2019b). This is the highest figure since 1973, leading to a decline in the number of productive people due to demographic challenges. Additionally, the working-age population is estimated to decline by 2040 from the current 65 million to 52 million, indicating the seriousness of a chronic labor shortage (The Japan Times, 2019b). In order to tackle this issue, one of the ways the Japanese government may solve this problem is by relaxing its immigration policy and overlooking its current ethnically homogenous culture.

Japanese society is on the verge of a big change. This is because the Japanese society, which has a strong anti-immigrant sentiment and homogenous society(Green, 2017; Kondo, 2002; Roberts, 2018), has amended the law and decided to open the doors so that foreign workers can accept immigration. Japan is known to be the one of the least ethnically diverse countries with a 98% ethnically homogenous rate. In addition, the number of foreign nationals working in Japan accounts for only 2 percent of the country’s labor force (Cooke and Kim, 2017). However, the root cause of this change is that as the birth rate and the aging of the population have progressed, the national workforce growth rate has also shrunk, which in turn has negatively affected the perception of economic size and living standards (Buchholz, 2019). Factors such as these mentioned have been the main cause of unreliability of economic sustainability and has led people to disbelieve in and be pessimistic about Japan’s future. Hence, on December 8, 2018, the Japanese Immigration Control Act was passed at the meeting of the Supreme Court of Japan with a lot of opposition and controversy under the bill. In the revised bill with new types visas, 14 business sectors, including agriculture, construction, shipbuilding, caregiving, etc will accept up to 345,000 foreign workers over the next five years (Yoshida, 2018a). The new category type 1 visa is granted to low-skilled foreign workers and they can stay for up to 5 years if they pass the Japanese and simple functional exam and can upgrade to a type 2 visa with certain exam. By contrast, only workers with a high level of skill in a particular field will be able to bring their family and receive the type 2 visa for up to 5 years. Particularly, this visa is renewable so these workers can ultimately get permanent residence (Toshihiro, 2019).

First, through the amended immigration control policy, immediate economic benefits can be achieved by serving industrial needs with the type 1 visa. Fundamentally, the first visa is designed to meet the industry’s demand for blue-collar workers (Toshihiro, 2019). The measure, which expanded the acceptance of foreign workers to make up for a serious labor shortage in Japan, is particularly in labor-poor industries where foreign workers can be accepted in 14 business sectors. Especially, in the nursing care sector, more than 60,000 workers will be recruited to supply the most effective workforce in the ageing society (Koizumi et al., 2019). Several of these sectors are said to see a 10-fold increase in total workers accumulated in the five years (Mainichi, 2018). Although many workers divided into 14 categories cannot immediately resolve Japan’s serious labor shortage, it has become a starting point to fill the shortage through the acceptance of immigrants. Although there is a limited period of five years for unskilled workers with visa type 1, it must be of great help to economic growth by continuously increasing the proportion of productive households being replaced by other new foreign workers and shrinking as a sustainable migration.

Nevertheless, opposition parties criticized that foreign workers are likely to focus on metropolitan areas with higher paid jobs, and it remains to be seen whether the influx will address a deficit of manpower in areas outside of the city (The Japan Times, 2019c). Additionally, there are some voices that this is not much different from the one that has used the simple foreign labor force since 1993 under the name of Technical Intern Training Program (Toshihiro, 2019). This was initiated when Japan provided help in the form of training to developing countries through boosting the technology industry and promoting expertise to foreign nationals but it was criticized for its purpose in securing cheap manpower with abusing human right and labour exploitation (Lee and Park, 2005; Mori, 1997). In fact, opposition parties argue that this passage of the amendment is a testament to the fact that it has been passed without sufficient discussion and fishing, food and farming sectors do not require special practices and that discrimination and wage problems in these areas are feared to draw international condemnation in the past (Tomohiro, 2018; Yoshida, 2018b). Although more than 50 percent of the country’s citizen’s support the acceptance of foreign workers, it remains to be seen how the government will change compared to before, as labor conditions, rights and welfare of foreign workers are related to integration with Japanese society (Ebuchi and Takeuchi, 2018).

The second type of visa, which focuses on foreign workers with higher qualifications or experience in the job field, will not only increase immigration to high-end workers and build a firmer foothold in global competition but will also allow the diversification of races to take a step closer to sustainable competitive advantage in many areas (Toshihiro, 2019). Also, Immigrants largely play a role in easing the financial burden of the future, claiming that their taxes and job contributions are more effective than the costs and benefits they receive from government welfare and public services (Grisworld, 2012; Storesletten, 2000). For example, the United States has been steadily receiving labour force through the influx In addition, the type of visa 1 can be changed to type 2 visa depending on certain test and technical qualifications (Mainichi, 2018). That would allow workers to live permanently in Japan even if they do not return home in five years and continue to increase the number of economically involved people, thereby increasing GDP and contributing greatly to tax security. In addition, Japanese companies with insufficient manpower can train foreign workers to continue to manage the formation of skills and human resources of foreign labor legally without returning home five years later. Thus, there is also the effect of reducing the cost of retraining and training of new foreign workers.

However, Professor Junichi Goto, an expert on immigration affairs, says no one is against importing more foreign experts to boost the economy, adding that more regulations should be eased to accept highly skilled workers (in Yoshida, 2014). On the other hand, he argues that “the influx of unskilled foreign workers will benefit consumers by lowering labour costs and prices of goods and services”, but “the cost of education, health care and other public services here will increase” (in Yoshida, 2014). In other words, the benefits of bringing in foreigners will far outweigh the deficiencies unless there is an influx of millions of workers. Furthermore, Inoguchi (in Coulmas, 2008, p. 122) asserts that it is important to develop immigration policies as part of a long-term strategy to address the declining population and aging. However, he opposes the influx of unskilled workers and these unskilled workers are the most likely to be “laid off during the economic downturn, and they would be difficult to form and promote skills at work”. He also pointed out that these workers are highly likely to end at the “bottom of the social pyramid”. As before the measures were adopted late last year, Japan had no significant immigration policy, even though 2.6 million foreign residents already reside in Japan (Toshihiro, 2019). In addition, studies show that “343,000 immigrants must be accepted every year by 2050” to offset the current population decline (Coulmas, 2008, p. 119; Tsuya, 2014). Due to this rapid expansion of the workforce, having said that, the number would be a far-fetched influx. Also, the emergence of various problems caused by the policy has never been received by the government before (Toshihiro, 2019), and with the implementation of the policy, it may be a matter of time before all the social and political problems that will occur in the future. While it may contribute in part to child care subsidies, an increase in the productive population and efforts to enhance Japanese labour productivity (Yoshida, 2014), the likelihood of how much such a number can address the labour shortage seems low over the next five years.

In conclusion, Japan’s aging society has already entered a super-aged society at the fastest pace in the world, whereas the birth rate is the lowest in the world. These demographic trends are emerging in a variety of socio-economic aspects. To solve the problems, Currently, the issue in Japan is that there is a lack of labour force despite the debate of accepting foreign workers (Lam, 2009). In order to face this issue, the government may need to consider accepting foreign help by putting aside the social criterion which is deep rooted within the country’s culture. With the demographic challenges leading to a sharp drop in labour force participation rate, immigration policy may be seen as a good solution as an alternative workforce to the problems. As it certainly can contribute greatly to Japan’s GDP growth, supply of workers, tax revenue (Maestas et al., 2016), and the view on immigration policy in Japanese society may be as easy to accept as before. However, it is clear that the system on immigration policy has not been properly established in Japanese society, which has a strong ethnicity. if the Japanese government further complements and institutionalizes immigration policies and changes its views on immigrants in the Japanese society so that it can accommodate a large number of foreign workers, it could be one of solutions to address the demographic problems. Nonetheless, the current number of immigrants does not make it easy for policy writers as it may prove difficult to uphold the current size of the population while inviting new workers in to the country. A 345,000 increase in foreign workers does not guarantee a solution to the demographic problem, yet it also may become challenging the government to accommodate this large income of people. This calls for a reevaluation of the current immigration laws and the accepting of foreign workers.