The British Population Patterns, Trends, and Processes

by Coleman, David; Salt, John

• ISBN13: 9780198740971
• ISBN10: 0198740972
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-06-04
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Why is the birth rate so low? How fast is the population ageing? What is the true picture of immigration into Britain? This is the only textbook which offers students a complete picture of Britain's population structure. It follows a synthetic approach to focus on the more important and interesting developments and so builds up an integrated picture of the British demographic scene.
It offers an informed discussion of such issues as the problems of paying for a growing pensioner population, shortages of young workers, the high rates of divorce and illegitimate birth, geographical and social differences in health and mortality trends.
Significant changes are taking place in the composition and distribution of the British people through immigration from the New Commonwealth and elsewhere, movement between town and country, and between North and South. The authors explain how and why these changes have occurred.
They describe the development of all these patterns and trends in the British population during the twentieth century, and suggest what the future may hold. At a time of EC integration, it is important to know how distinctive the British population is. The authors place British trends in an international context through frequent comparisons with Europe, the United States, and other industrial countries. The comprehensiveness and detail with which these issues are dealt will make the book required reading for undergraduate students in departments of geography, demography, labour economics, and town and regional planning, and for businesses interested in understanding the causes of the growth and decline of their labour force and market.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
Abbreviations
British Population: The Starting Point	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Data for Population History	p. 7
A Demographic Picture of the Early Modern Period	p. 13
Population Trends 1500-1750	p. 28
A Working Model of Population	p. 32
Into the Twentieth Century	p. 35
From the Eighteenth Century to the Present	p. 35
The Decline of Mortality from the Eighteenth Century	p. 38
Infant Mortality and the New World of Children	p. 42
The Irrelevant Rise of Scientific Medicine	p. 45
Agriculture, Diet, and the Death-Rate	p. 48
Major Causes of Death and their Control in the Nineteenth Century	p. 53
The Decline of Fertility	p. 61
Thinking the Unthinkable: The Rise of Birth Control	p. 70
Consequences: The Creation of a New Population	p. 75
The Changing Distribution of Population in the UK	p. 83
Introduction	p. 83
Sources of Data	p. 84
Where do the British Live?	p. 84
Historical Patterns of Regional Change	p. 89
Population and the Urban System	p. 96
Regional Trends since 1971	p. 104
Processes of Change	p. 110
Fertility Trends	p. 113
Introduction	p. 113
Explaining Fertility Trends: 'Proximate' Causes	p. 120
Explaining Fertility Trends: The Underlying Causes	p. 137
Family Formation	p. 150
Socio-Econonic Differentials and Trends in Fertility	p. 157
Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage	p. 175
Why Marriage Mattcrs	p. 175
Marriage	p. 180
Divorce and Widowhood	p. 192
Remarriage	p. 203
Marriage and the Social Structure	p. 212
Households and Families	p. 216
Introduction	p. 216
Problems of Studying the Family and Household	p. 218
Trends in Household Size and Composition	p. 220
The Life Cycle of the Household	p. 225
Households in the Future	p. 234
Mortality: Trends and Patterns	p. 238
Introduction	p. 238
The Decline of Mortality in the Twentieth Century	p. 238
The End of Infectious Disease?	p. 246
The Rise of 'Diseases of Affluence'	p. 253
Mortality Risks through the Life Cycle	p. 262
Some Factors behind the Mortality Trends	p. 278
International Trends and Comparisons	p. 295
Future Progress against Mortality	p. 297
Differentials in Mortality	p. 305
Introduction	p. 305
Mortality and Occupation	p. 305
Mortality according to Social Class and Geographical Area	p. 311
Mortality Differentials by Social Class	p. 315
Regional Differences in Mortality	p. 319
Specific Causes of Death: Social and Geographical Patterns	p. 326
Infant Mortality	p. 335
Underlying Causes of Social and Regional Mortality Differences	p. 337
Behavioural Factors in Mortality Differentials	p. 343
The British at Work	p. 365
Introduction	p. 365
The Supply of Labour; The Work-Force	p. 366
The Demand for Labour: Jobs	p. 375
Unemployment: The Mismatch of Work-Force and Jobs	p. 383
Work for Future Britons?	p. 391
Internal Migration	p. 395
Introduction	p. 395
The Significance of Inter-Urban Migration	p. 396
Data Sources	p. 397
The Composition of Migrant Flows	p. 400
The Geographical Pattern of Interregional Migration	p. 410
Reasons for Moving	p. 420
The Role of Housing	p. 421
Relocation of Staff within Large Employing Organizations	p. 427
Government Policy towards Internal Migration	p. 430
International Migration	p. 433
Introduction	p. 433
The Nature and Quality of the Data	p. 436
The Legal Framework for Immigration and Nationality	p. 438
Trends in UK Migration in the Twentieth Century	p. 442
Labour Migration and the British Economy	p. 454
Refugees in the UK	p. 464
Ethnic Minority Populations	p. 472
Introduction	p. 472
Definition and Measurement of British Ethnic Minority Populations	p. 476
Geographical Distribution of Immigrants and Ethnic Minority Populations	p. 488
Demography of Jews, Irish, and Catholics in Britain	p. 493
Demographic Characteristics of New Commonwealth Ethnic Minority Populations	p. 501
Intermarriage and the Population of Mixed Origins	p. 513
Population Projections	p. 516
The Political Economy of Demographic Change	p. 518
Introduction	p. 518
Malthus at Bay: Facing Demographic Stagnation	p. 519
The Debate on Population	p. 522
Malthus Revived: Growth, Land, and the Environment	p. 525
Contemporary Demographic Problems: The Threat of Population Decline?	p. 526
Population and Household Distribution and the South-East Problem	p. 531
Rural Decline--and Renaissance?	p. 537
The Inner Cities	p. 538
The Challenge of the Age Structure	p. 541
The Middle Years: Consumers and Work-Force in the Future	p. 552
Educating the Young	p. 557
One or Two Parents?	p. 558
The Shape of the Future	p. 563
Appendix	p. 565
References	p. 567
Index	p. 638
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