Demographic Transition

Today we started talking about demographic transition. We started off by getting packets of pages from a textbook instead of the usual PowerPoint. We were tasked to highlight important information as we read. I learned that there are 4 steps (sometimes 5). Here is some information on the 4 different stages:

Stage 1: Low Growth

• There is no country remaining in stage 1
• for the majority of this period people were hunters and gatherers 
• When food was easily obtained, a region's population increased
• Population decreased when people were unable to locate enough animals or vegetation 

Stage 2: High Growth 

• Rapidly declining death rates and very high natural increase 
• North America and Europe entered stage 2 in the 1750's as a result of the Industrial Revolution 
• As a result of this there were many more wealthy people and healthier communities 
• Stage 2 did not diffuse to Africa, Asia, and Latin America until around 1950
• The late-twentieth-century push was caused by the medical revolution
• Improved medical practices have eliminated many traditional causes of death in developing countries 

Stage 3: Moderate Growth

• A country moves from stage 2 to stage 3 of the demographic transition when the CBR begins to drop sharply 
• Economic changes in stage 3 occur when there is fewer offspring
• Most countries in Europe and North America moved into stage 3 in the first half of the twentieth century 
• For many countries in Asia, Latin America, and Mexico this movement took place in the second half of the twentieth century 

Stage 4: Low Growth 

• A country reaches stage 4 of the demographic transition when the CBR declines  to the point where it equals the CDR and the NIR approaches 0. This is called zero population growth.
• ZPG may occur when the CBR is still slightly higher than the CDR because some females die before childbearing years
• ZPG has the TFR that results in a lack of change in the total population over a long term. 
• People who have access to a wider variety of birth control methods and are more likely to use some of them