PART I: INTRODUCTION TO DEMOGRAPHY & POPULATION STUDIES
CHAPTER 1: DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES IN EUROPE
Demography = the scientific study of population.
- It is sometimes called the mathematical study of population, but increasingly uses mixed methods.
- The term 'démographie' was introduced by Achille Guillard in 1855.
- Demography covers population size, structure, geographic distribution, growth/decline, and the causes/consequences of population dynamics.
Why study it?
1. To understand how demography shapes society
2. Because demography drives our future
3. Because it’s the physics of social sciences
Europe's Demographic Challenges
- Key components of demographic change in Europe include:
o Structural sub replacement fertility and lowest low fertility.
o Increasing life expectancy.
o Changing patterns of family formation.
- Perceived consequences of these changes:
o Accelerated population ageing and inevitable population decline.
o More complex family structures.
o Population trends are seen as unsustainable in the long run, threatening the economy, labor market, and Europe.
Understanding European Population Dynamics
- Requires careful assessment of factors shaping demographic behaviors (e.g., how individual characteristics, social networks, and policy/economic contexts shape
family formation patterns).
- Recognizing that population dynamics are also strongly conditioned by policies.
Generations & Gender Programme (GGP)
- A United Nations initiative (Economic Commission for Europe, Population Activity Unit) that succeeded the 'Fertility & Family Surveys (FFS)'.
, - Consists of a Panel Survey (GGS) and a Contextual Database (CDB).
- Participating countries include Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Hungary, Russia, Australia, Belgium, etc..
- The Generations & Gender Survey (GGS) collects micro-level data on economic aspects, values/attitudes, gender relationships, parent-child relationships, household
composition, housing/mobility, education, health, public transfers/benefits, and personal networks/private transfers.
- The Contextual Database (CDB) provides macro-level data from 1970 onwards on general indicators, statistical/legal norms, and welfare state context for cross-
national comparative research in the UNECE-region.
CHAPTER 2: DEMOGRAPHIC FUNDAMENTALS
The Balancing Equation
= Relates population size at the end of a period to the size at the beginning, plus births and immigration, minus deaths and emigration.
Demographic Change as Transitions Between States
- Demographic processes can be viewed as individuals moving between different states.
o Examples:
Mortality: single transition from 'alive' to 'dead'.
Fertility: women moving through states like 'having had no children', 'having had 1 child', etc..
The Lexis Chart
= A graphical tool in demography for analyzing events across age and time.
- Vertical axis: age; Horizontal axis: calendar time.
- Individual lives are represented by diagonal lines (life lines).
- Can represent multiple events like births, marriages, divorces, deaths, etc..
- Used in analyzing rates (M-type) and probabilities (Q-type).
Measuring Demographic Processes: Risks, Rates and Probabilities
Understanding population processes requires measuring and analyzing components of change. Different quantities are used: risks, rates, and probabilities. The number of
events alone is not useful for comparison between populations due to differences in size.
Rates typically relate the number of events to the population exposed to the risk of experiencing that event (exposed-to-risk in the denominator).
Decremental Processes
= A process where experiencing the event removes the individual from the risk set (e.g., death removes from the risk of dying).
CHAPTER 1: DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGES IN EUROPE
Demography = the scientific study of population.
- It is sometimes called the mathematical study of population, but increasingly uses mixed methods.
- The term 'démographie' was introduced by Achille Guillard in 1855.
- Demography covers population size, structure, geographic distribution, growth/decline, and the causes/consequences of population dynamics.
Why study it?
1. To understand how demography shapes society
2. Because demography drives our future
3. Because it’s the physics of social sciences
Europe's Demographic Challenges
- Key components of demographic change in Europe include:
o Structural sub replacement fertility and lowest low fertility.
o Increasing life expectancy.
o Changing patterns of family formation.
- Perceived consequences of these changes:
o Accelerated population ageing and inevitable population decline.
o More complex family structures.
o Population trends are seen as unsustainable in the long run, threatening the economy, labor market, and Europe.
Understanding European Population Dynamics
- Requires careful assessment of factors shaping demographic behaviors (e.g., how individual characteristics, social networks, and policy/economic contexts shape
family formation patterns).
- Recognizing that population dynamics are also strongly conditioned by policies.
Generations & Gender Programme (GGP)
- A United Nations initiative (Economic Commission for Europe, Population Activity Unit) that succeeded the 'Fertility & Family Surveys (FFS)'.
, - Consists of a Panel Survey (GGS) and a Contextual Database (CDB).
- Participating countries include Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Hungary, Russia, Australia, Belgium, etc..
- The Generations & Gender Survey (GGS) collects micro-level data on economic aspects, values/attitudes, gender relationships, parent-child relationships, household
composition, housing/mobility, education, health, public transfers/benefits, and personal networks/private transfers.
- The Contextual Database (CDB) provides macro-level data from 1970 onwards on general indicators, statistical/legal norms, and welfare state context for cross-
national comparative research in the UNECE-region.
CHAPTER 2: DEMOGRAPHIC FUNDAMENTALS
The Balancing Equation
= Relates population size at the end of a period to the size at the beginning, plus births and immigration, minus deaths and emigration.
Demographic Change as Transitions Between States
- Demographic processes can be viewed as individuals moving between different states.
o Examples:
Mortality: single transition from 'alive' to 'dead'.
Fertility: women moving through states like 'having had no children', 'having had 1 child', etc..
The Lexis Chart
= A graphical tool in demography for analyzing events across age and time.
- Vertical axis: age; Horizontal axis: calendar time.
- Individual lives are represented by diagonal lines (life lines).
- Can represent multiple events like births, marriages, divorces, deaths, etc..
- Used in analyzing rates (M-type) and probabilities (Q-type).
Measuring Demographic Processes: Risks, Rates and Probabilities
Understanding population processes requires measuring and analyzing components of change. Different quantities are used: risks, rates, and probabilities. The number of
events alone is not useful for comparison between populations due to differences in size.
Rates typically relate the number of events to the population exposed to the risk of experiencing that event (exposed-to-risk in the denominator).
Decremental Processes
= A process where experiencing the event removes the individual from the risk set (e.g., death removes from the risk of dying).
