Category: Demography

Every so often, Malthus’s prediction about the impact of continued population growth on the availability of food gains particular salience. Fluctuations of food prices, environmental issues, depletion of natural resources, debates over genetically modified products are among the many reasons that prompt scientists and the general public alike to speculate about the sustainability of population growth.

Depending on the trajectory that the fertility rate takes over the 21st century, the United Nations’ estimates of the world population in 2100 range from a modest 7 billion to an alarming 16.5 billion, with 11 billion being the most probable estimate (Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations 2015). Even though some critics are quick to claim that Malthus’s prediction has failed, in the 21st century, humankind needs to adopt significant changes to prevent a demographic disaster – and it has, in fact, already done so in several important ways.

First, it is essential to understand the argument made by Malthus in 1798. It is commonly referred to as the ‘Malthusian catastrophe’ – a term that implies an apocalyptic disaster wiping the humankind off the surface of the Earth. Indeed, there is some support for this claim in Malthus’s writing: “Gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world” (Malthus 2001, p. 42).

Surely, if this is the interpretation that one adopts, Malthus’s prediction has been failing for more than 200 years, since humankind did not experience famine on a global scale. However, a closer examination of his writing reveals that Malthus did not envision a doomsday-like scenario. Rather, he recognised the limitations that the humankind faced in acquiring certain resources: “The great law of necessity which prevents a population from increasing in any country beyond the food which it can either produce or acquire, is a law so open to our view […] that we cannot for a moment doubt it” (Malthus 2001, p. 50).

What Malthus emphasises in this statement is not that famine is inevitable but that there is a limit to how much food people can produce – this concept has become known as the Earth’s “productive capacity” (BBC 2010). The implication is that Malthus did not mean to claim that the humankind was doomed to a speedy apocalypse at the time of his writing; rather, he was saying that the resources available to people are finite and ultimately scarce.

If this is the definition of Malthus’s catastrophe that one operates with, then it becomes clear that the prediction did not necessarily fail. As research suggests, every ecosystem has a certain threshold, surpassing which threatens its health and even its existence. This threshold is known as the carrying capacity, and, on several occasions, it has been exceeded through the introduction of invasive species to a new territory.

A classic example is the European rabbits’ arrival to Australia: enjoying favourable living conditions and free from predation, the rabbits quickly spread throughout the country causing soil erosion, species extinction, and other problems (Sinden, Gong & Jones 2011). The human population threshold is yet unknown: just over the last seventy years, the population grew from 2.5 billion to more than 7 billion (Bloom 2011). Moreover, considerable differences in demographic trends exist between different regions. However, it appears that the population problem has a deadline: given the phenomenon of population momentum, the issue should be addressed by the mid-century at the latest (Smail 2002). There is an urgent need to address the problem of human overpopulation.

Opponents of Malthus’s prediction claim that, if his forecast were, indeed, accurate, the humankind would have reached its carrying capacity long ago, during the 200 years that have passed since Malthus wrote his essay. Malthus’s opponents cite two reasons in explaining why the growing human population has been sustainable thus far: demographic transition and technological and agricultural advances.

Demographic transition refers to the phenomenon whereby a given society begins to experience both lower mortality rates, thanks to the improvements in medicine and living standards, and lower birth rates, as people choose to have fewer children. While this is, indeed, the case in many developed countries, Malthus’s critics were too quick to generalise it as a global trend (The Economist 2008). Developing countries, on average, still have birth rates well above the replacement rate (The Economist 2011).

The second argument against Malthus’s prediction is that he did not take into account the technological and agricultural advances that the humankind would achieve after his lifetime. Indeed, people have reached great results in improving their food production capacity thanks to irrigation, fertilisation, mechanisation, and other related know-how (Sachs 2008). Importantly, these methods aim at improving efficiency – that is, obtaining more output for the same input. However, in many other cases, the humankind simply relies on using and spending additional resources that are not always replaceable (Sachs 2008).

For instance, even though many countries are switching to renewable energy resources, others rely on more intensive oil extraction techniques, such as the infamous fracking. Thus, when one considers technological advances, it is important to realise that most of the time people are not finding new sources of food or other resources but merely stretching the ones available to them, but the resources remain rather scarce.

Thus, even though so far historical developments have been favourable for the population growth, one cannot claim that they will remain so in fifty-year time. Interestingly enough, people do operate on the assumption that Malthus was right, as they have already implemented a wide array of measures to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic activities on the environment. First of all, it is the global commitment to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, manifesting itself in such international treaties as the Kyoto Protocol. Importantly, the movement has garnered much support from large developing economies such as China, who has developed stringent policies to limit the emissions (Cao 2013).

People have also recognised the need to switch to renewable energy sources. Currently, many countries rely on their capacity to a great extent: in Denmark, wind energy accounts for about 40 per cent of the country’s energy consumption (Marques & Fuinhas 2011). The adoption of such policies and practices demonstrates that people have, indeed, recognised the relevance of Malthus’s prediction.

At the same time, while it is undoubtedly important to manage the humankind’s ecological footprint, more drastic changes are necessary to address the issue of population growth. It implies, first of all, population management in the developing countries: currently, the fertility rate in most African countries is as high as 5.7 children per household, and there is little observable fall infertility (The Economist 2011).

Several policies can be implemented to address the issue, starting with improving access to education, particularly, sex education. Women should be empowered to pursue other goals in life apart from fulfilling traditional gender roles, which is a radical change for many conservative societies. Availability of birth control and family planning, as well as permissive attitudes toward them, is essential to control the birth rates in these countries (The Economist 2011).

Globally, a change in consumer behaviour is necessary: for instance, the current rate of meat consumption accounts for as much as 18 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, making it the leading global warming cause (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations 2006). While it is practically impossible to prohibit meat consumption, governments can target food waste and conduct education projects raising awareness about the meat’s ecological footprint. Ultimately, population growth lies at the core of virtually all ecological problems, so controlling it will yield important benefits for the environment (BBC 2010). Thus, people should adopt a combination of radical and marginal changes to address this problem.

When Malthus noted the limited availability of natural resources in their relation to the population growth, he was not incorrect. The fact that the humankind has not yet reached its carrying capacity should not guide decision-making in the future. Ideally, all societies need to adopt a conscious approach to reproduction and consumption as to ensure that the population growth does not get out of control. In practical terms, it can be achieved through tighter government regulation and information dissemination. In some societies, the changes will be radical as they will require an overhaul of their cultural and social practices and customs. However, many countries, specially developed democracies, are already on the right track in identifying and analysing relevant issues and designing appropriate policy responses.

References

Bloom, DE 2011, ‘7 billion and counting’, Science, vol. 333, pp. 562-569. Web.

Cao, M 2013, ‘Greenhouse gas emission reduction climate change legislation’, Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 52-58. Web.

Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations 2015, World population prospects. Web.

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations 2006, Livestock’s long shadow: Environmental issues and options. Web.

How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth?. 2010. [Film] Directed by Helen Shariatmadari. UK: BBC Horizon. Web.

Malthus, TR 2001, Essay on the principle of population, Electric Book Company, London. Web.

Marques, AC & Fuinhas, JA 2011, ‘Drivers promoting renewable energy: A dynamic panel approach’, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 1601-1608. Web.

Sachs, JD 2008, ‘Are Malthus’s predicted 1798 food shortages coming true?’, Scientific American. Web.

Sinden, J, Gong, W & Jones, R 2011, ‘Estimating the costs of protecting native species from invasive animal pests in New South Wales, Australia’, Environmental and Resource Economics, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 203-226. Web.

Smail, JK 2002, ‘Remembering Malthus: A preliminary argument for a significant reduction in global human numbers’, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, vol. 118, pp. 292-297. Web.

The Economist 2008, Malthus, the false prophet. Web.

The Economist 2011, Africa’s population: Miracle or Malthus?. Web.

Demographics

Nowadays, Dubai is commonly referred to as the most rapidly developing city in the Gulf region. The principal reason for this is that for the duration of the last few decades the Emirati capital has been enjoying the reputation of one of the world’s well-established tourist and business destinations. In its turn, this explains the qualitative aspects of the demographic situation in Dubai. The most notable of them are as follows:

As of 2015, the city’s population amounted to 2,446,675, with the number of permanent (Emirati) and non-permanent (expatriates/temporary workers) residents having been estimated to account for 222,875 and 2,223,800 respectively (“البابالأول-السكان” 2).

The main implication of this statistical insight is that Dubai is extremely diverse, in the cultural sense of this word. The population’s male/female ratio is shifted rather dramatically towards the representatives of “stronger sex”. In the same year, the number of the city’s male residents accounted for 1,703,355 and the number of female residents for 743,320 (“الباب الأول- السكان” 1). In its turn, this can be interpreted as the indication of the Dubaian society being strongly patriarchal – something that correlates well with the Emirati government’s commitment to the protection of Islamic traditional values.

As it appears from Population Pyramid by Sex (“الباب الأول- السكان” 5), through the years 2013-2015, the largest portion of Dubai’s population continued to consist of middle-aged males (see Fig. 1), which is consistent with the earlier mentioned fact that Dubai provides many employment opportunities for foreign workers.

Nevertheless, even though the percentage of the city’s senior residents appears insignificant, there is a good reason to believe that it will continue to grow as time goes on. The validity of this statement can be illustrated by the steady increase in the number of suburban households that surround Greater Dubai. Whereas in 2013 there were 357,773 of them, by the year 2015 the concerned number went up to 413,310 (“الباب الأول- السكان” 6). Our suggestion is validated even further, concerning the fact that life expectancy among Dubai’s residents is estimated to be as high as 82 years (“الباب الأول- السكان” 19).

What this means is that there is indeed much rationale for the government of Dubai to invest in ensuring the city’s infrastructural integrity, especially given the upcoming Expo 2020 event. As of today, there remains much uncertainty about the number of disabled people living in Dubai, as well as what these individuals consider the foremost challenges within the context of how they go about trying to achieve social self-actualization.

Nevertheless, there is a good reason to believe that the situation, in this regard, will change for better by the end of this year. As Miran pointed out: “Dubai will have a database for people with disabilities by 2017 to help develop policies and services that best integrate them into society”. Such a would-be development is indeed thoroughly justified because the current socio-economic realities in Dubai establish many objective preconditions for the disability rate among residents to be on the rise – contrary to the fact that the UAE features some of the world’s highest standards of living. This explains our choice for the subject of this research – specifically, the population of physically disabled individuals in Dubai.

Social Needs in Dubai and its Shortcomings

The main problem, faced by the chosen category of Dubai’s socially dependent residents, is that they often experience difficulties while trying to get around – both within the city and outside of its municipal boundaries. Probably the most troubling of these difficulties is that the “special needs” people (with the majority of them being wheelchair-bound) find it utterly challenging getting off the walkway into the main road and vice versa, as there are simply not enough curb ramps alongside pavements in Dubai.

Because of it, concerned persons’ traveling choices become severely limited. As Bindiya Farswan (“a 31-year-old Dubai resident from India, who is wheelchair-bound due to cerebral palsy quadriplegia”) noted: “I use the roads when I have to get somewhere, not the walkways” (Geranpayeh 1). It is understood, of course, that the described situation is hardly tolerable, especially given the fact that the “expulsion” of disabled residents onto the city’s streets contributes even further towards making the problem of traffic jams in Dubai ever more serious.

Up until this date, there have been a few strategies deployed under the auspices of the Road and Transport Authority/RTA to make it easier for the physically disadvantaged residents to commute through the city. In this regard, we can mention the following:

• New buses in Dubai are now equipped with the floor-lowering system, so that wheelchairlers do not experience any problems getting inside (Geranpayeh 3).
• The city’s “water buses” now have a special space, reserved exclusively for people in wheelchairs. Each of such “buses” is presupposed to provide accommodation to no less than 3 disabled commuters (Geranpayeh 3).
• Physically disadvantaged drivers are entitled to several different parking privileges while being exempted from the requirement to pay any parking fees, applicable to Dubai’s able-bodied drivers (“People of Determination”).
• Taxi Dubai operates the fleet of seven taxis, specifically reserved for the clients with “special needs”. According to Geranpayeh, these taxis are: “fitted with special lifts for wheelchairs, artificial respiratory systems, wheelchair on board and seats for companions” (4).
• RTA came up with the provision for the design of the would-be built Dubai Metro to be observant of the specifics of the disabled individuals’ commuting needs (Geranpayeh 4).

Generally speaking, the deployment of the earlier outlined strategies proved to be rather effective, in the sense of empowering the Dubai’s disabled residents within the context of how they address different transportation-related challenges: “Dubai has made it quite easy for individuals with special needs to remain mobile and access public places” (Geranpayeh 1). Nevertheless, the undertaken measures, in this respect, are far from being considered exhaustive. Moreover, there is an objective reason for what has been done so far to accommodate the needs of physically disadvantaged Dubaians to prove only partially workable.

For example, as opposed to what it is the case in most Western cities, Dubai’s traffic lights at the pedestrian crossings do not give out an audible signal – much to the blind residents’ dismay (“Irish Traffic Lights”). Yet, it is namely the fact that the implementation of these measures does not quite adhere to the principle of systemic wholesomeness, which appears to represent their main shortcoming. The reason for this is that, as it can be inferred from what has been said earlier, the currently enacted strategies on the way of making Dubai “special needs”-friendly presuppose that ensuring the disabled people’s well-being has the value of a “thing in itself”. Such an assumption, however, is flawed to an extent, because it de facto stands opposed to the idea that the agenda of the city’s physically handicapped residents are inseparably interconnected with the agenda of the Dubaian society as a whole.

The thematically relevant social enterprise that I am going to propose aims to eliminate the discursive inconsistency in question. The theoretical premise out of which my initiative derives can be formulated as follows – instead of being solely concerned with helping physically handicapped Dubaians to get around the city,

the enactment of the “special needs”-friendly policies in Dubai should also aim to benefit the city’s able-bodied residents. The viability of this suggestion is reflective of both the fact that Dubai’s disabled residents are naturally driven to favor buses as the primary mean of traveling and the fact that the government is currently trying to find the best way to address the problem of traffic jams on the city’s roads. One thing is clear about the latter objective – it can only be achieved by providing as many Dubaians as possible with the strong enough incentive to refrain from using their vehicles to commute. As Tesorero argued: “The main solution (to Dubai’s congestion with traffic)… is to get more vehicles off Dubai roads. Even if the city road network is expanded, it will not be enough to keep pace with the increasing population and demand for cars”. The available statistical data provides us with insight into why the majority of residents continue to prefer driving cars, as opposed to riding buses.

As of today, there are 1,122 operating buses in Dubai (“Dubai in Figures 2017”). If we divide 2,446,675 (Dubai’s population) by this number, the derived population/bus ratio will equal 2180 – something suggestive of the scarcity of buses in Dubai (in large Western cities, there is approximately 1 bus per 1000 residents) (“Number of Buses”). In Dubai, the average waiting period between the arriving and departing busses is estimated to account for 30 minutes (“How to Get from Dubai”).

This again suggests that the number of buses in the Dubai’s system of public transportation is hardly adequate – the actual reason why the city’s streets continue to be clogged with more and more privately owned cars, even though most Dubaians are fully aware of the sheer abnormality of such a situation. If they were to choose between the options of having to spend 20-30 minutes riding a bus or to waste 1-2 hours being stuck in traffic while trying to get to the same destination in a car, most of them would favor the first option. The first option, however, can only become available to Dubaians if the mentioned waiting intervals between buses are no longer than 5-10 minutes.

The discursive implication of the above-stated is quite apparent – RTA will need to acquire 2,224 more buses (equipped with wheelchair lifts for the disabled). By doing it, the concerned organization will be able to “kill two rabbits with one shot” – to increase the commuting empowerment of disabled residents and effectively solve the problem of traffic jams in Dubai. Given the average cost of purchasing one new bus (about $100,000), the suggested social enterprise’s overall cost will amount to approximately $220 million. It is understood, of course, that as compared to building new highways/widening the old ones (something that usually requires the budget of billions of dollars and consequently spawns corruption), my initiative would prove a much more cost-effective/workable way of increasing the residential appeal of Dubai.

Conclusion

I believe that if implemented practically, the proposed social enterprise will prove utterly successful – all due to its strongly defined systemic quality. As it was shown earlier, the Dubai government’s current approach to helping disabled Dubaians to cope with the transportation-related challenges is indeed objectively predetermined. However, it does not take into consideration the fact that, within the context of how one goes about trying to ensure the effectiveness of infrastructural initiatives in urban areas, the application of linear logic often backfires. We can only welcome what has been done so far to empower the city’s physically disadvantaged residents, but the fact remains – most of them are strongly accustomed to using either their cars or the RTA-operated buses for getting from point A to point B.

In its turn, this implies that for as long as Dubai’s roads continue to remain congested with traffic, these people will not be able to benefit a whole lot from the ongoing expansion of the city’s “special needs” infrastructure. This once again illustrates the full soundness of the proposed social enterprise, on my part. The enterprise’s only drawback is that, despite being systemically sound and cost-effective, it can hardly be deemed “sophisticated” enough to represent much appeal to the governmental officials, in charge of integrating the concept of CSR in the very philosophy of the city’s infrastructural functioning. Therefore, it is rather unlikely that it will ever be considered seriously. This, however, does not make the related suggestions, on my part, any less viable.

Works Cited

“الباب الأول- السكان.” Government of Dubai, 2015. Web.

“Dubai in Figures 2017.” Government of Dubai, 2017. Web.

Geranpayeh, Sarvy. “How Disabled-Friendly is Dubai?” Gulf News. 2016. ProQuest. Web.

“How to Get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi Without a Car.” What’s On, 2017. Web.

“Irish Traffic Lights.” YouTube. Web.

Miran, Aisha. “Dubai to Have Database of People with Disabilities by 2017.” Gulf News, 2015. Web.

“Number of Buses per 1,000 People.” Urban Bus Toolkit, 2016. Web.

“People of Determination.” Government of Dubai, 2017. Web.

Tesorero, Angel. “Traffic Jams in Dubai Cost Time, Money and Health.” Khaleej Times, 2016. Web.

The article contends increase in American population will make it difficult to use one marketing strategy to reach the target market. This will be due to the segmentation of the market by different nationality and spending behaviors. In the future, alternative communities are likely to share common values and passions.

The projected increase in the population of Hispanics implies that the niche market will become a mass market. There are possibilities of shortage of resources since the increased population will stretch the natural resources. There are expectations of companies shifting their attention from the 18 to 34 demographics in the next 25 years (Wellner, 2004). A company like Pepsi believes that the target market is not made up of youths only but it is multigenerational.

The article reveals that people over 50 are never old as had been the notion. This implies that people between the age of 50 and 74 will dominate the market; however, the American companies will still consider the 18 to 34 demographics. Companies, therefore, have to strategize on how to reach this group of people in the next 25 years. In addition, the expected decrease in the White population makes companies to reorganize their potential target market.

It means that firms that already targeting the nonwhites will gain competitive advantage in the future. Evidently, the changes in the demographic trends are likely to come from the increased number of the old generation and the reduced number of white Hispanics. Companies that had been targeting the white consumer market will have to change their market focus.

The market will be composed of multigenerational demographic hence forcing firms to create ageless multigenerational brands. Companies are also facing major challenges of producing products that target specific races or producing multiracial products. Since one racial group no longer controls the American market, companies will have to grasp and understand matters of cultural identity through ethnography.

Demographic trends analyze the alterations that can transpire in a demographic population over a given time (Kerin, Hartley & Rudelius, 2012). Demography is the scientific study of variations of the human population in terms of size and structure.

Some of the parameters that alter the size and structure of a population include migration rates, death rate, and birth rate. Demographic trends focus on why there are emigrations, geographical mobility, and immigration. In marketing, the entire concept touches on the characteristics of the entire human population, which include the employment status, level of income, age, and disability.

Demographics offer adequate information about members of a given group hence assisting marketers to understand the traits of the hypothetical collective. After visualizing the characteristics of a specific group, marketers then develop effective marketing strategies that center on the demographic. Notably, marketers try to view and understand the tastes of a consumer group towards a certain product.

Companies will have to change their marketing strategies that have been focusing on the youthful generation since in the next 25 years, generation X and Y will be in their late 30s and 50s. The demographic profile has proved that in the next 25 years, people who will be in their 50s will not be as old as the present population who are in their 50s.

In addition, the expected decline in the numbers of white consumers and increase in the numbers of the Black Hispanics will make companies that have been tailoring their products towards the two races to re-strategize their market plans (Hobbs & Stoops, 2002). For example, a company whose large customer base is the white population will have to divert its focus to the Black population in order to maintain or increase their sales in the future market.

On the other aspect, a firm that has been focusing on the Black population will have to increase their production levels in the future to accommodate the increased population. Lastly, the expected multigenerational market will make firms to re-modify their marketing strategies in order to appeal to all the generations. Clearly, these demographic trends have great effects on the marketing strategies of the firms.

The United States Postal Service is also planning how to adjust its marketing strategies. The main demographic trend is the populations’ change in marital status. Clearly, generation X and Y will already have families in the next 25 years and the company will have to contend with the decreased population of youths who had been using their services.

However, couples will still require direct mails services like post cards services for sending the tangible presents to their partners. Moreover, the present groups will have experienced changes in their income levels and with the increased technology, the Postal Service have to re-strategize its marketing plans given the decrease in populations’ use of their services.

Apart from age, race, and household income, geographical information is also a demographic trend that can alter a company’s marketing strategy. For instance, if a population relocates to anew area, companies that had relied on that population will have to re-strategize on how to capture the remaining market or move to the new location. The company may have to produce products that fit the remaining population or pump more funds to the marketing department to reach the old population in their new location.

References

Hobbs, F., & Stoops, N. (2002). Demographic trends in the 20th century. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau.

Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W., & Rudelius, W. (2012). Marketing (11th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Wellner, A. S. (2004). The Next 25 Years. classes.bus.oregonstate.edu. Retrieved from classes.bus.oregonstate.edu/Fall- 10/ba499/elton/Articles/the%20next%2025%20years.pdf

Kotler and Keller (2006) state that the population of people over 50 years old is going to be about 115 million in the next 25 years. This information is extremely helpful for understanding the needs and preferences of people in this age. The increased number of such people will require from the society to meet their needs in a better and more widespread way.

Thus, considering the marketing opportunities directed at Americans aged 50 and over, many facts should be presented. Therefore, this information may be easily considered by means of understanding whether Americans over 50 years all are guided by their age, buying power, or lifestyle. The demographical research should be provided with the purpose to predict the behavior of Americans aged 50+.

Turning to the US Census Bureau and the information they provide about American population, it can be concluded that a number of people over 50 years old in the country is more than 70,662,158 (about 25% of the whole population in the USA). It may be stated that men aged 65+ are 16,008,865 and women at the same age are about 21,971,271 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).

This information may be really helpful as a number of women is more than men which may lead to the change in the preferences in traveling. Considering the poverty rates, it may be interesting to know that 10% of people aged 50 and over live below poverty level, the lowest activity if to compare with other groups (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).

The following statistical information may be useful for getting to know more about people aged over 50 years old, it is considered from the U.S. Census Bureau site. There are 10,432,779 persons over 65 who live alone in their households and 26,401,621 who live with one or more people aged 65+.

These facts may help understand the buying power of people and their lifestyle. Those who live alone are freer, they are not restricted by any responsibilities. Moreover, these people search for new impressions as they are bored. This information should be used by marketers.

It is approximated that about 58 percent of females above the age of fifty five in the US are still part of the labor force. In addition, there is a growing margin of this trend that is expected to increase this population in future (Target Market News, 2010).

As a result, this brings about improvement in purchasing power, standards of living and life expectancy. A recent study shows a definitive revelation that in the event the ages of respondents are connected there is a need to rank several variables.

Considering the demographic information for management about people above 50, the information on sex by age and employment may be useful. Thus, male from 45 to 55 are numbered 18,452,577 in general. 15,609,549 are employed and 586,097 are unemployed. 2,768,572 are not in labor force in this age group.

Men aged from 55 to 59 years old (6,454,809) are also employed (4,644,142) and not (178,551), while 1,628,278 are not in labor force. 1,319,452 of 2,152,721 are employed in the group aged from 60 to 61. Only 53,897 are unemployed and others are not in labor force. The information about men from 62 and over may be distinguished in the following way: there are 17,344,227 people of this age.

Only 176,221 do not work and 13,299,523 are not in the labor force, others continue working, still, the number of working men with age decreases. In the comparison with the men, there are 19,153,032 women aged from 45 to 55. Among them, 13,648,268 are employed and 5,009,013 are not in labor force. 4,018,249 women aged from 50 to 59 are employed (total number of women of this age is 6,928,442).

It can be noticed that women aged from 62 to 64 who are not in labor force are twice more than men (2,177,618). The same tendency in observed with women after 65, there are 18,602,791 women who are not in labor force. This means that women live longer but with age they are unable to work (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).

The information about entrepreneurs aged 50 and over is also important. Thus, 5.6 million American workers aged 50+ are self employed. These people expect to live on 20 years more that those who were born, for example, in 1900. The cheaper technologies and higher expectancies of living give people over 50 years old power to work.

This may explain the opportunity of people in such age to travel, they may be guided by buying power (Hopkins, 2005). Moreover, people who work after 50 years old are interested in fashion and other innovations the modern world offers. The lifestyle of such people is active.

Education plays important role in human life, especially in their life and buying power. Those people who have good education and have been working for many years can relax after 50 years old, still they want to work. His desire may be explained by a number of reasons one of which is human expectancy of life.

As it was mentioned above, people who were born 50 or more years ago expect to live rather long and happy life. It is natural that becoming older, people do not want to stay at home as they believe that movement is life. Working, communicating with others and enjoying life makes them more assured in their future.

Turning to the statistical information in the field of education, it may be said that 65.5% of people aged 65 and over possess high school degrees and only 15.5% managed to acquire Bachelor’s degrees or higher.

In the numerical correlation, 9,779,506 people aged from 45 to 65 in the USA have graduated from high school, among them only 4,381,218 have a Bachelor’s degree. Consider the information about people aged 65 and over, high school was graduated by 7,225,499 among which only 923,847 have Bachelor’s degrees (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).

Thus, in conclusion it should be mentioned that the future number of people aged 50 and over may greatly increase, according to the research conducted by Kotler and Keller (2006). Thus, it is important to study this age group from different angles. Various facts should be considered for understanding key marketing opportunities.

The research was conducted where the information about interests, education, sex, employment and other factors was considered. It is also important to remember that modern people of this age are different from those who lived 100 years ago. Now, people aged 50+ want to enjoy their life and they expect to live more.

Reference List

Hopkins, J. (2005, January 18). The new entrepreneurs: Americans over 50. USA TODAY.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2006). Marketing Management. Delhi: Prentice Hall of India.

Target Market News. (2010). Consumer Research News. Target Market News. Web.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2008). American Community Survey. Web.

Demography is the study of trends in human population growth. Changes in human population can be established through observing time or space. Human population changes in response to several factors, which include birth and death rates, migration, aging, and death rates. These very crucial dynamics are used to establish human population patterns. To understand demography, it is important to define the term, which is made up of two words, ‘Demo’ and ‘Graphy’. Demo means people while ‘graphy’ means measurement, hence measurement of people (Knox, et al). The analysis of human population can be done using groupings as a criterion. Such groups can be defined through different criteria including education, nationality, religion and ethnicity. This paper will be looking at demographic transition over time and space to identify how these two factors affect population. The paper will also show how economic and political stability relates to the population.

The level of economic development has a direct impact on the factors that contribute to changes in the population. The changes in population can be either an increase or a decrease depending on the rates of birth and death. Economic development entails quite a number of changes that can be attributed to birth and death rates. High birth rates indicate that more women are, getting pregnant, carrying their babies to term and having a successful delivery. Economic development and stability causes the population to engage in social activities and with the economic power to bring up children, the rate of birth may increase. However, this is only one side of the coin. There is a different twist to the same situation whereby the increase in economic activities can lead to very low birth rates. In the developed world where economic stability is at its highest level, the birth rate is not as high as in some of the Low Developed Countries ‘LDCs’ (Knox, et al).

Measuring the demographic transition over time and space is done by determining the Crude Birth Rate ‘CBR’ and Crude Death Rate ‘CDR’ (Knox, et al). This refers to the number of births or deaths registered per thousand of population per year (Knox, et al). This model of demography suggests that when the CBR equals the CDR, then the population is said to be on equilibrium. This means that the population remains constant since the number of children being born equally replaces the number of people dying. At this level, other factors play an important role to establish this balance such as economic stability. With a sound economic backup, the underlying implications include improvement of the Medicare consequently improving life expectancy. Improved medical services improve the chances of successful birth hence again improving the population growth. In relation to the transition over time and space, economic development takes time to be realized. The developed countries are said to have just gone through their demographic transitions in the 19^th and 20^th centuries (Knox, et al).

The world industrial revolution was a major boost to the transition although it also took time before the changes were realized. The demographic transition theory maintains that before the industrial revolution life expectancy was very low owing to the poor nutrition, poor Medicare services, unreliable food supply as well as poor sanitation (Knox, et al). During the industrial revolution period, the population took a different turn as new inventions improved life expectancy. Increased technology in medical services and the development as social security systems were developed to support and care for the elderly (Knox, et al). The reduced infant mortality rate also plays a very crucial role in stabilizing the population. Improved nutrition after the industrial revolution further improved the life expectancy in the western countries hence enhancing population growth.

However, over time, the birth rate began to decrease in the western countries based on different factors. The demographic theory holds that the increased wealth led to low birth rates as children were seen as inferior goods (Knox, et al). Other factors that led to low birth rates include the delayed stages of marriage influenced by the high number of women joining universities and tertiary colleges (Knox, et al). Women’s education reduces the rate of births as young productive women spend too much time studying. All these factors reduce the rate of birth although the death rate does not change since there is an increase in the level of life expectancy. Therefore, the population is quite equalized with low birth and death rates.

The demographic transition was developed based on the industrial revolution in the western world although the model faces quite a surmountable criticism. One of the striking inconsistencies of the theory is the fact that Europe took several centuries to go through the transition while today the Low Developed Countries are experiencing a more rapid transition (Knox, et al). A practical case is the case of Sri Lanka which is a Low developed country. The country experienced a drop in death rate from 48/1000 to 28/1000 within a period of two years (Knox, et al). This paper has shown how demographic transition works and has discussed the impacts of economic development on changes in population.

Works Cited

Knox, P.L., et al. Human Geography 4th Cdn, Ed. Canada, CA: Pearson, 2013. Print.

History of the Neighborhoods

In this social economic analysis, I will focus on Austin city located in Texas as well as Harbor Hills in New York. Austin is the capital city of the US state of Texas. It has a population of approximately one million people according to US Census Bureau. Since its foundation in the 19^th century, Austin has grown in an unprecedented rate to become eleventh most populous city in the US.

Besides, the city hosts a myriad of government operations and education institutions such as University of Texas. It is worth mentioning that the city has a cosmopolitan composition of population in the sense that many people living in the area come from different races, nationalities and ethnicities.

To that end, racial, ethnic and other demographic characteristics of Austin are of paramount importance in this analysis. Besides, the report will also analyze other variables including poverty levels in comparison to racial and ethnic belonging and background.

For the purposes of qualitative analysis and comparison, the paper will also focus on demography of Harbor Hills in New York. Harbor Hills has as modest population of around five thousand people. It reflects a hamlet and is located in Nassau County in New York. The city will provide important variables that will be of interest especially when making comparison of various demographic parameters such as poverty rates and racial background.

Fig 1: Racial Composition of Austin, TX

The motivation behind this analysis is the fact that Travis County is one of the most diverse counties not only in Southwest of the United States but also in other areas of the country. The rationale is that the entire state of Texas has experienced unsurpassed rate of immigration leading to a multiethnic population.

Most profoundly, Blacks and Hispanics have become significant races within Texas and its cities. Harbor Hills will serve as a point of reference when making comparison about poverty levels and ethnic belonging of the city residents. Besides, the demographic analysis will utilize both dependent and independent variables to arrive at a succinct analysis of the city.

Description of Variables

In this analysis, rate of poverty will stand out as of the major variable. It refers to the number of people living below certain threshold. According to the United States Census Bureau, poverty rate refers to the number of people living below minimum wage.

On the other hand, minimum wage is the threshold of income per person in employment that International Labor Organization (ILO) stipulates. It varies from time to time due to other factors such as the rate of inflation and jurisdiction. In Harbor Hills and Austin, analysis of poverty rates will provide us with vital statistics. Besides, analysis of rates of poverty will facilitate explanation of other demographic and external variables such as income and literacy levels.

Second, the paper will analyze the rates of poverty vis-à-vis ethnic and racial backgrounds of the residents in both neighborhoods. It is important to point out that rate of poverty is directly associated with level of education and race. Due to different cultures and demography, comparison of the two neighborhoods will reveal other characteristics that are pertinent to the analysis.

Empirical Profile of the Neighborhoods

Poverty rates in Austin vary greatly in accordance to race and ethnicity. The major races in the city are Whites, Black and African Americans, Hispanics, Indian Americans and other races. The Whites constitute approximately 69.4% of the total population while the Blacks and Africans constitute just above 8.5%. Other races constitute approximately 20% of the population.

According to 2010 statistics released by US Census Bureau, poverty rate in Austin varies with age. Poverty rate of children under the age of 18 years stand at 22.1% implying that at least two out of ten children living in Austin live under poor conditions. For the population of people between the ages of 18 and 64 years, poverty rate stood at 15.5%.

Above 64 years, poverty rate of the population seem to have reduced within the period of analysis. It stood at an average of 8.1%. On average, poverty rate in the city of Austin is just above 15%. According to the US Census Bureau, the rate of poverty remains high when compared to the national average that was 12% in the same year. Various factors are attributable to high rates of poverty in Austin.

At the outset, it is of importance to mention that level of education and race are major determinants of poverty rates in the neighborhood. On average, Austin’s income per household is around $88 thousands annually. In black households, the average level of income stands at just below $50, 000 annually.

This is different from the average annual income accruing Whites’ households that stood at approximately $96, 499 during the same period. Consequently, the disparities that are apparent in terms of incomes also reflect in other aspects of Austin. For instance, poverty levels among the blacks stand at about 24.3% while that of Whites is a mere 13.3% (in the year 2010).

In addition, it is worth highlighting that other races residing in Austin record a significantly higher rate of poverty than the white population. Central to the rate of poverty is the level of education across the ethnic groups living in Austin. Apparently, over a quarter of the population has attained a bachelor’s degree while almost an equal proportion of the population has some college education.

Education is an important indicator of the likelihood of being absorbed in the labor market according to many social scientists. As such, its rate either increases or reduces the likelihood of employment and influences the amount of income accruing each household. To this end, it is important to pinpoint that that rate of unemployment amongst the white population stood at a modest 5.9% in the neighborhood.

Among the blacks, the rate of unemployment is more than twice when compared to that of the white population. It stood at 12.4% according to the statistics released by Census Bureau in 2010. This helps us to draw a conclusion and deduce that average white population is more literate than respective black population in Austin. This is reflected in the disparities of income per household and the rate of unemployment between the two major races living in the city Austin.

In Harbor Hills, New York, poverty rates are relatively low when compared to Austin. Particularly, the number of poor children stood at five in 2001accounting for 0.8% of children under the age 18 that live in abject poverty. This number has grown in a period of 10 years to peak at 3.2% in 2011. For ages between 24 and 64 years, the rate of poverty has increased from 5.1% to 7.1 between 2001 and 2011 respectively.

Nonetheless, the rate of poverty among the senior citizens has reduced marginally from 5.3% in 2001 to 4.8% by 2011. On average, Harbor Hills has one of the lowest rates of poverty in Nassau County. It is important to highlight that poverty levels vary considerably in line with racial belonging and education attainment of the residents.

Unlike in Austin, Harbor Hills has one of the lowest rates poverty accruing the black population and other minority races. According to the US Census Bureau, the rate of poverty among the black population stood at 0.5% in 2010, which was a lower rate of poverty than that of the majority white population. In fact, the rate of poverty among white residents of the neighborhood stood at 6.8% in 2011.

The mean income accruing every household in Harbor Hills was approximately $83,275 in 2010. While the statistics for the annual income accruing black households was unavailable by the end of 2010, every white household recorded an average annual income of about $83, 451. This implies that the households had a higher per household income than all other racial groups in the neighborhood.

While income per household is a strong exogenous variable that influences poverty rates within a community, other factors such as education attainment contribute significantly to the welfare of the residents. US Census Bureau records that an average of 48.7% of the population has attained a bachelor’s degree with well above 20% of the population having achieved a graduate degree.

This implies that a considerable majority of the residents is able to access employment opportunities in both military and civilian institutions. Due to high level of educational attainment, it is critical to highlight that Harbor Hills has a different social economic profile than Austin. In addition, the number of people living in the neighborhood is relatively low when compared to the residents of Austin.

It therefore follows that population density of the two neighborhoods vary greatly despite similar variables typifying the communities. Besides, seems to be ‘an above average’ suburb in terms of socio-economic parameters that are provided by US Census Bureau.

Conclusion

In essence, Austin and Harbor Hills neighborhoods vary greatly. On the one hand, Austin is located in Travis County, Texas in Southwest of the US. It is the capital city of Texas and hosts myriads of state institutions and departments. Due to its geographical location, Austin has different social groups belonging to various races, ethnicities and nationalities.

White and black races are the predominant races although there are other races in the city. According to the US Census Bureau report of 2010, poverty rates among the white residents are lower than poverty rates among the black residents. Consequently, there is a higher level of average annual income accruing white households than black households.

This is due to the average levels of unemployment and educational attainment that are skewed in favor of the white population. On the other hand, Harbor Hills is located in Long Island of New York. It is a relatively affluent suburb of New York City in the county of Nassau.

Unlike Austin, Harbor Hills has a low population of about five thousand people. However, the residents have different ethnicities, races and nationalities. Moreover, the rates of poverty are relatively lower than in Austin. The levels of income and unemployment are more favorable for Harbor Hills; residents than for Austin dwellers.

Reflection

From the above demographic analysis, I have learned various lessons that are valuable to my social research and inquiry skills. At the outset, I have learnt that the level of income accruing every household is an important indicator of poverty level and status. However, households’ income is a dependent variable that correlates with levels of education attainment, unemployment and racial background.

It is not surprising therefore, that black population in Austin suffers from the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest levels of educational attainment. This in turn has led to high number of black residents living under conditions of poverty and subsequently, low incomes accruing their households. Second, I have learnt that Austin has a higher number of residents (approximately one million) than Harbor Hills (five thousand).

This has had a significant influence on the statistics that US Census Bureau released in 2010. For instance, it is absurd to purport that no student dropped out of high school in Harbor Hills since the statistics indicate a figure that is well below 1% in 2010. Indeed, the percentages do not reveal the actual number of people highlighted by various variables.

Third, I have understood that Harbor Hills is relatively affluent than Austin. The rationale is that the neighborhood has a population of black residents who are comparatively wealthier than white residents are. Besides, it seems that only the wealthy blacks can afford to live in Harbor Hills.

This is reflected in the high level of educational attainment in the neighborhood. It is commendable that the rates of literacy in the area are above 95%. Finally, I have learnt that Austin city is of strategic importance for the state of Texas. The reason is that the city has a rich diversity that can be used to draw general conclusions about the demographic characteristics of other cities.

Introduction

Reflectively, establishing age forms is a critical element for deriving the structuring component in demographic studies since survivorship frequency and fecundity can be established by recording the age of a subject. Studying the inscriptions on a gravestone is essential in establishing age in cemetery demographic research.

Human beings’ survivorship and fecundity are greatly affected and influenced by age. Studying cemetery tombstone data is one of the main approaches preferred by demographic researchers. Moreover, this process involves an active collection of survivorship data in the cemetery tombstone’s remains (Rail, 2011). From this data, it is possible to accurately establish different ages of death for a group of individuals sharing the same time of birth interval. The results obtained can further be used to “construct an age-specific survivorship schedule for the cohort” (Alho & Spencer, 2005, p. 34). These cohorts are significant in the study of comparative factors, such as gender, historical events, socioeconomic status, and geographical locale on survivorship (Swanson, Siegel, & Shryock, 2004).

This reflective treatise attempts to explicitly explain the value of gravestones in studying demography as part of the observation science. Besides, the paper reviews the methods of data collection and explains the results of cemetery demography in curves and histograms. In addition, an in-depth analysis of the derived data is carried out to draw a comparison between the Chester and Chicago cemeteries.

Methods

Through observation, I collected data from the Chester Community cemetery for a period of two weeks. The data collected comprised of 50 gravestones. Components of the data collected included the aspect of age, gender, date of birth, date of death, and geographical location. The data were grouped into five classes comprising different age groups of the number of recorded deaths. Besides, raw data on sex, year of death, and year of birth of each person was collected. Indicated below is the summary of data collected for different ages of 50 individuals. The data is sorted by year of birth and death for the fifty persons as indicated in the table below.

Results

Raw Date Collected from the gravestones in Chester cemetery

Year of Birth – Year of Death

The raw data was then sorted and grouped by sex for each person as indicated below.

Table of Age at death and birth/death year for each person.

From the above data grouping, the survivorship table captures the details of males and females who had passed away before 1950 and were buried at the Chester Cemetery as indicated below.

The Survivorship Table for Data Collected

From the survivorship table, I derived a set of histograms on different ages and sexes of persons captured in the data as indicated below.

The y-axis represents survivorship while the x-axis shows the different age classes.

From the survivorship table, I derived the survivorship curve to capture mortality rates for the persons studied. The results are indicated below.

Discussion

Reflectively, the results indicate a normal distribution in survivorship rates between the males and females who died and were buried in Chester Cemetery before and after 1950. Generally, the survivorship level remained below 1 with the average being at 0.8.

The survivorship level was higher for females across all the age groups captured in the data sets. However, this level was even higher for deaths recorded after 1950 among the female population. This can be attributed to the fact that females have a higher life expectancy than males.

Besides, better health among the female population can also be attributed to the high survivorship rate. Due to modern family planning procedures, sensitivity to health issues, and proper dieting, females show higher rates of survivorship than males (Arafat & Allen, 1995).

Comparatively, the same characteristics on survivorship level are indicated in the Chicago Cemetery data which suggests that females have a higher survivorship rate than their male counterparts. Besides, data from both cemeteries have average survivorship of 0.8 (Rail, 2011). Conclusively, survivorship is determined by several factors, such as life expectancy, sex, and health.

References

Alho, J., & Spencer, B. (2005). Statistical Demography and Forecasting, New Delhi: Surendra Kumar.

Arafat, I., & Allen, D. (1995). Thinking about Population: An Introduction to Modern Demography. New Jersey: Rowman & Littlefield.

Rail, M. (2011). Chester Community Cemetery. Web.

Swanson, D., Siegel, J., & Shryock, H. (2004).The Methods and Materials of Demography, New York: Emerald Group Publishing.

Introduction

This paper is not only going to define demographic transition, but also describe its four phases. Additionally, it is also going to show some of the factors which can lead to a reduction in the crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR). Living conditions in developed countries in phase IV and Programs, which can assist the developing countries in achieving their goal of reaching demographic transition phase IV will also be discussed.

Definition of demographic transition

Demographic transition is a theory used to illustrate the alterations in population over a given period. Additionally, it is used to determine various causes of death, which occurs within a certain population. In history, the number of deaths recorded over a given period has been steadily decreasing. The records have also shown an increase in life expectancy. Therefore, this is a clear indication that the entire world population is undergoing a transition where birth and death rates change from high to low, respectively (Teller & Assefa, 2011).

Four phases of demographic transition

The first phase is also called high stationery, and it is the point where the number of birth and death rates, recorded over a given period, is high. This indicates that the entire population is stable and advances slowly.

Due to the presence of fresh communicative infections, this phase is characterized by a high mortality rate. Phase two (early expanding) is considered to be the foundation of demographic transition, where there is a quick decrease in the mortality rate. Besides, it has a constant death rate. At this phase, there is a growing trend in the entire population.

In phase three (late expanding), there is a considerable decrease in birth rate with the death rate being constant. This is the stage where the entire population is still growing and is considered to be close to the peak growth rate.

The last phase (low stationery) shows the existence of a fresh equilibrium between birth and mortality rates. This implies that the population is stable. There is a low mortality rate due to the availability of adequate health care services. Most of the developed countries are categorized under this phase (Borgmann, 2005).

Factors which led to a reduction in the crude birth rate (CBR) and crude death rate (CDR)

In the demographic transition, a decrease in the crude birth rate is majorly caused by industrialization and urbanization, which requires less labor. It is also caused by the alterations in socioeconomic preferences where people tend to put much focus on consumption. Increase in living standards is another factor which contributes to the decrease in the crude birth rate.

For instance, most people in urban areas will tend to have few children to cope with the high cost of living. The availability of contraceptives has also made it easy for many families to have few children through practicing family planning.

The decrease in the crude death rate is caused by the availability of better medical services. Therefore, communicative infections can easily be treated. The decrease is also caused by the availability of clean water and adequate food supply. Consequently, many individuals can reach adulthood because there is a decrease in child mortality.

Living conditions in developed countries that have reached phase IV

The living conditions in developed countries, that have reached this phase, are considered to be favorable. There is better health care facilitated by the availability of modern medicine. People staying in developing countries still receive poor health care leading to the increased death rate. In developed countries, several people are living a comfortable life; hence, they can take care of their families.

Additionally, they spend most of their income on doing various businesses. Those individuals living in developing countries spend most of their earnings on food. The favorable living conditions have been brought by the high standards of education. For instance, many people are educated, making it easy for them to secure well-paying jobs. In developing countries, most inhabitants are not able to finish school due to poverty. Therefore, they are not able to get well-paying jobs.

Programs or initiatives which can assist the developing countries in achieving their goal of reaching demographic transition phase IV

For the developing countries to achieve their goals of reaching phase IV, programs like the provision of better health care and reduction in the cost of living should be initiated. Better health care can be provided by employing qualified nurses and medical doctors. Besides, it can also be provided by the prescription of modern drugs to the patients. Moreover, by reducing the cost of living, many people will be able to stay in the urban centers and make their investments.

Conclusion

Demographic transition is used to illustrate the alterations of a certain population and has four phases. Each phase has its characteristics. Hence, different countries can be categorized under phases. Reduction in CBR and CDR has been greatly influenced by industrialization and urbanization.

Also, developed countries that have reached phase IV are considered to have favorable living conditions with better health care. Conclusively, for the developing countries to reach phase IV, several programs like better health care and reduction in the cost of living should be put into practice.

References

Borgmann, C. (2005). Social security, demographics, and risk. Berlin: Springer.

Teller, C., & Assefa, H. (2011). The demographic transition and development in Africa: The unique case of Ethiopia. Dordrecht: Springer.

Brief introduction

Having a human population of more than 2.5 million, Brooklyn is actually the most populous among New York City’s all five boroughs. Over 1 in 8 inhabitants of New York State stay in Brooklyn and in the event that considered solely, it is the 4th biggest urban center in the United States (Hamilton, Martin, & Ventura, 2010). Just like Queens, It is a complicated quilt of heaps of local neighborhoods, every single with its individual distinctive property inventory, organizations, neighborhood corporations, as well as localized lifestyle. And additionally similar to Queens, numerous Brooklyn communities have encountered key demographic adjustments in the course of the previous decades.

In Brooklyn, these kinds of adjustments are most frequently explained by the expression “gentrification.” This is typically described as a procedure concerned with the inflow of a middle-class or even well-off populace into typically working -class or even small -revenue region and the related displacement of reduced -revenue populations. Lots of individuals view gentrification as shift in the neighborhood’s “personality” the neighborhood organizations, the stores, the actual street lifestyle, as well as the numerous additional aspects which form the neighborhood economic system as well as way of life (Hamilton, Martin, & Ventura, 2010).

Southern Brooklyn is a location or amalgamated community within the New York City, covering parts of Cobble Hill, covered by Brooklyn Community Board 6, which usually consequently estimates the southern area 1 / 2 of the eighteenth century City of Brooklyn. The IND Culver Line serves Southern Brooklyn and also was formerly known as the Southern Brooklyn Line on various standard subway roadmaps. Nevertheless, it may well have been given its name after the South Brooklyn Railway that was the primary right of way for BMT Culver Line.

It is actually given its name with regard to its position, southern of the initial City of Brooklyn In the earlier nineteenth century virtually all the region southern of Atlantic Street, currently Atlantic Avenue, was basically farmland and known as Red Hook, and also the part to the south of the later on Hamilton Avenue, today the southern area of {Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, was basically Red Hook Point. The portion of the township to the south of Atlantic Street was initially annexed as the southern area of the Town in the middle nineteenth century, and is actually northwest of the middle of the much bigger contemporary borough. The rather traditional name of Southern Brooklyn was expanded in latest years in order to promote a closer link amongst the component neighborhoods, although the name has for ages been well-known nomenclature for the neighborhood’s local people. The revived expression had been much less. In general within Brooklyn, Hispanic human population transform in the course of the last 10 years is fundamentally level; a rise of 1.5%. This is an extremely reduced number. The southern 1 / 2 of Brooklyn, the Hispanic voting age group human population enhanced by practically 15% (US Health state, 2011).

Brief history of southern Brooklyn

Very few individuals know that the southern area of Brooklyn has merely been component of Brooklyn for bit of more than a century. What is currently Brooklyn, or Kings County, had been initially split into half a dozen self -ruling cities set up in the seventeenth century on the southwestern point of Long Island. 5 of the cities were settled generally by Dutch immigrants; these ended up being known as Bushwick, Flatbush, Flatlands, New Utrecht, and also Brooklyn. The 6th and southernmost city, Gravesend, was launched by a group of The English language spiritual dissenters who fled intolerant Massachusetts for the much more favorable environment of New Netherland. Ultimately, the city of Brooklyn grew to be an integrated city, and in between 1854 and 1896, soaked up each and every of its neighbors (Gravesend ended up being annexed in 1894) till its boundaries equaled Kings County’s. Brooklyn, consequently, evolved into a borough of Larger New York City in 1898.

Southern Brooklyn’s Evolving Demographic

Southern Brooklyn used to be primarily white, however that is altering. In accordance to the 2010 Census, the black colored human population of local neighborhoods such as Mill Basin, Georgetown, Bergen Beach as well as Marine Park has leaped by 241% throughout the earlier 10 years, the greatest proportion increase within the town.

Middle -class black color households are drawn to the region for the similar cause that white-colored households are: single-family households on secure streets; great shopping; great neighbors. In Old Mill Basin in between Ralph and Flatbush Avenues, the principally aging adults white human population is becoming substituted by African-American as well as Caribbean households, carrying on with the pattern which flipped Flatlands as well as East Flatbush from middle-class white towns into middle-class dark-colored communities.

As the white-colored human population of Brooklyn changes eastward into typically black color communities like Bed-Stuy and also East New York, so does indeed the black color human population, shifting even further into Canarsie, Flatlands as well as the previously -white enclave of Old Mill Basin. Asian as well as Hispanic populations have additionally surged in the southern area of Brooklyn.

Brief overview of Southern Brooklyn’s demographic information

According to the latest census, Southern Brooklyn has a population of 286,900 constituted of the various age groups as shown in the table below (US Health state, 2011).

Racial/ethnicity demographics

Mortality rates

The mortality rate in Southern Brooklyn has reduced by well over 10% in the previous 10 years, reflecting the rate decrease in New York City total (US Health state, 2011). In 2008-2009, the average yearly mortality rate within Southern Brooklyn was somewhat reduced than within Brooklyn and also comparable to the rate within New York City total.

Mortality rate: Deaths per 100,000 people

Premature death

Individuals that pass away prior to age seventy five can be considered as passing away prematurely. In the event that an individual passes away prematurely, their years of prospective life forfeited, can be determined simply by subtracting their particular age at passing away through seventy five years to get a measurement of premature dying (NYC.Gov., 2010). The actual triggers associated with premature dying differ throughout neighborhoods. The principal trigger of early loss of life in Southern Brooklyn is cancer, and also in both Brooklyn as well as New York City in general.

Top three causes of mortality in southern Brooklyn

Cancer screening process can easily help save lives by stopping illness, detecting cancer in its beginning phases helps in offering possibilities for cure. The mortality rate as a result of cancer decreased slightly in Southern Brooklyn over the past decade as compared to Brooklyn and NYC overall rates.

Birth rates

There has also been a slight decline in the overall birth rate, going from 14.2 in 2007 to 13.4 in 2009. The percent of women who reported smoking during pregnancy has decreased over the years. However, since 2005, the smoking rate has fluctuated between 9.5% and 10.0% (United Health Foundation, 2010). The average age at first birth has increased slightly from 25.2 in 1990 to 26.2 in 2009. The percent of women reporting not being married when their infant was born has also increased since 1990 to 33.5% in 2009 (United Health Foundation, 2010).

Top three ethnic groups with high birth rates

Southern Brooklyn Median Income is above Average

Southern Brooklyn’s median household income was $51,054 in 2009, according the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Southern Brooklyn ranked 11^th among states, well above the national median of $46,242. Southern Brooklyn’s median family income, $63,998, ranked tenth-highest among states. The New York median family income was $55,832 (United Health Foundation, 2010). Family income exceeds household income because non-family households generally have lower incomes than families. Nonfamily households are those with only one person or where unrelated people live together. On average nonfamily households are smaller and have fewer earners (US Health state, 2011). One-person households, which make up more than a quarter of all households in Southern Brooklyn, tend to have especially low incomes. They often contain an older person living on a modest retirement income. All the measures of median income are subject to sampling error; Southern Brooklyn might really be a few ranks above or below tenth or eleventh. The differences between Southern Brooklyn and New York are statistically significant.

Southern Brooklyn income (Source: US Health state, 2011)

• Southern Brooklyn incomes are above the national average.
• Adjusting for inflation and taking into account methodological differences, no firm conclusions can be drawn about changes in household and family incomes.
• Households with a householder between the ages of 25 and 64 receive 85 percent of all income.
• White households have higher incomes than nonwhite and Latino households.
• The more education people have, the higher their earnings.
• Men earn more than women.

Southern Brooklyn income

Southern Brooklyn income is more than $133 billion. Southern Brooklynns get an annual average earning exceeding $133 billion, according to the 2008 American Community Survey. Earned income account for up to 85% of Southern Brooklyn household earnings while approximately 79% comes from wages and salaries. Another 6% is generated from self-employment (Hamilton, Martin, & Ventura, 2010).

Other key earning sources consist of Social Security (5%), retirement income (4%) and interest, dividends and rent (4%) while public assistance amounts to earnings less than 1%.

83% of the households show earned income, 29% report asset earnings from interest, dividends and rent, and 24 percent received Social Security. Supplemental Security Income and public assistance were received by 3 percent of households.

Many households receive more than one type of income. For example, retirees may receive both Social Security and income from a pension. People who receive wages and salaries may also receive income from investments.

Conclusion

Other than collecting data with regard to household income, the American Community Survey provides information showing income of persons based on divergent demographic attributes. In the 2009 survey, Southern Brooklyn males reported median earning range of $41,411, in comparison to women’s $27,746 for women. Southern Brooklyn was ranked 15^th on average male income and also 15^th on average female income. Educational levels are similarly a key predictor of income. College level graduates earned up to twice as much, as that earned by persons who did not finish high school and 60% more than persons who graduated from high school level but failed to gain entry into a college. On basis of educational sector, women’s earning is considerably lower than that of men. The average income for females holding a Bachelor’s degree is just slightly higher compared to men who failed to advance higher than high school levels. In conclusion, it is important to note that Southern Brooklyn is an economically empowered state just as it is socially empowered.

References

Hamilton, B. E., Martin, J. A., & Ventura, S.J. (2010). Births: Preliminary data for 2009. National vital statistics reports, 59 (3). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Web.

NYC.Gov. (2010). Web.

United Health Foundation. (2010). “America’s Health”, the American Public Health Association and the Partnership for Prevention. Web.

US Health state. (2011). US data center. Web.

Even in the wake of the 21st-century, the issue of discrimination still remains topical. Combined with the problem of poverty and lack of educational resources, it takes a truly monstrous scale, affecting not only the lives of women in a number of regions of Africa, but also the entire African population, as the lack of qualified professionals takes its toll on the quality of the services provided for the residents of the state, not to mention the efficacy of the state’s policies in both home and foreign affairs.

In her speech regarding gender profiling in Africa in general and the lack of educational opportunities for African women in particular, Leymah Gbowee makes it obvious that the provision of equal opportunities in education for both male and female students is crucial to not only the social issues within the African community but also the political and economic status of the countries.

The speaker raises a range of other essential issues, which the global society in general and Liberia, in particular, are facing at the moment, and which may impede the fight against the disease. To be more specific, the fact that the rights of women are currently infringed in a number of countries, Liberia not being an exception, must be mentioned. Gbowee touches upon the discrimination problem lightly in her speech, yet it seems that the problem needs to be discussed more thoroughly.

According to what Gbowee says, across entire Africa, the right for education is a war for women. This is a major flaw of the current social system, which is tearing apart the very fabric of society. Though the phenomenon of discrimination may seem to have few links to the current global issues, including the ones that are related to political conflicts, it, in fact, affects the quality of the strategies that are used in order to advance complicated political situations (Gbowee para. 4).

The idea of education improvement is the key strategy in resolving political and cultural conflicts, in its turn, has its pros and cons. On the one hand, the quality of education, in general, has little to do with the solution of very specific political conflicts, which are triggered by unique sociocultural factors (Prah 50). On the other hand, it is the understanding of various cultures and the knowledge of psychology that allows for addressing political conflicts.

The specified skills, in their turn, are acquired in educational institutions and developed in the course of the academic progress. Therefore, the promotion of feminist ideas in Africa, especially the regions, where discrimination manifests itself in banning women from education completely, must be considered an essential step towards improving the wellbeing and health of people all over the world (Schulte para. para. 3).

Apart from the obvious link between education and politics, Gbowee also makes a valid point concerning the use of modern media as a tool for promoting important ideas regarding education among the African people.

Gbowee, therefore, may teach other activists a lesson about incorporating the latest technological innovations into the promotion of essential social ideas and making a movement against women’s rights infringement in African countries not only popular among the African people, but also famous all over the world.

It is crucial for the promoters of equal rights to have supporters for equity movement at present, and one must use any help that one can get to assist the women that are oppressed.

Works Cited

Gbowee, Leymah. “Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee: Ebola threatens to Derail a Decade of Peace.”The Guardian.2014.

Prah, Mansah. Insights Into Gender Equity, Equality and Power Relations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Fountain Publishers. 2013. Print.

Schulte, Erin. “How Nobel Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee Unified Liberian Women.”Fast Company. 2011.