The most important indicators of the demographic well-being of a population are age. Sociology, studying it, applies various methods, including age pyramids, which allow you to see the processes of population reproduction in dynamics.
The concept of age in sociology and demography
The age of the population and the individual are important indicators for sociology and psychology. A lot of social roles influencing social relations are based on age status. The number of years lived since a person was born, determines his position in society and requires the implementation of certain patterns of behavior. There are several varieties of age:
- absolute, it is also a passport or calendar. This is the calculation of years in the amount of time lived since the day of birth;
- biological, or age of development, the antipode of the calendar, means the degree of morphological development of the body at a certain moment in life;
- mental, determining the development of intelligence and psyche at a particular moment in life;
- social, characterized by the level of social achievements for the average person of a particular age.
The age category in sociology and demography allows you to answer questions about population development trends and make predictions about the future movement of society.
The concept of age structure of the population
Age structures are the allocation of groups of people by the number of years. For the first time, this method of classifying the population was used in ancient China, where the first age scale was compiled, it included 6 stages: youth, age of marriage, time of fulfilling social duties, age of knowing one’s own misconceptions, last creative age, desired age and old age. Already by this scheme it is clear that the age structure is an important indicator of a person’s social activity. Modern sociology distinguishes periods such as childhood, youth, maturity and old age. To solve various research problems, scientists distinguish other stages of human development over time. Today, scientists talk about the age structure of the population of different countries, assess the difference between them, build age pyramids that help identify the dynamics of demographic processes. The term “age structure of the population” appeared in the 19th century; it denotes the distribution of a population with certain age characteristics over the territory of the country and the planet as a whole.
Study of age structures of the population
The study of age is the starting point in the study of many social processes. The study of this phenomenon is necessary to track the dynamics of socio-economic processes that are based on demography. Information on the age structure of the population makes it possible to identify the causes of increasing and decreasing fertility and mortality, and to look for ways to solve problems associated with these phenomena.
It is important to determine exactly what the age-gender pyramid is being built for in order to extract the most useful information from it. Knowing the structure of the population, it is possible to predict and plan the socio-economic activities of the state and business. This information will allow you to predict what goods and services can be in demand at different time intervals, form a budget for various social payments and build a policy for the development of human capital.
Methods of studying age structures
There are several methods that help to collect information about the age parameters of a population. The simplest and most common way is monitoring, which is based on the analysis of statistical data. Survey methods are also widely used, the most famous of which is the census. Each state periodically conducts censuses that allow you to collect information about the age structures of the country. Most often, these data are examined along with information on sexual distribution. The goal of the age-gender pyramid is to present the differences and similarities between the distribution of ages among gender groups. This information allows us to evaluate the consequences of socio-economic events and plan future social policies.
The concept of age-sex pyramid
The first systematic censuses of the number of people in a country of the same age begin in the 19th century. In 1895, the Scandinavian scientist A. G. Sundberg proposed creating diagrams that would record a set of peers at certain points in the country. Thus began the practice of creating age pyramids. Later, the gender parameter was added, this made it possible to compare the number of men and women of the same age, to evaluate the dynamics and the total duration of their life.
To build an age pyramid, it is necessary to collect quantitative information and present it in a diagram. The vertical in it marks the age, and the horizontal - the number of people. The base of the pyramid is always wider than anything else, since it is made up of newborns, the number of people begins to decrease further to the last counted oldest person. One horizontal bar may indicate the number of people per year, 5 or 10 years, depending on the information collected.
Classification of age pyramids
There are varieties of pyramids with different time intervals, the most detailed is the type with an interval of 1 year, but it requires a lot of work to collect information, more common are 5 and 10-year-old models. International standards recommend using a 5-year interval to estimate population. It is also customary to distinguish the types of age pyramids in accordance with the version of society, as models of a growing population appeared, in this case the diagram is as close as possible to the correct pyramid, a steadily aging generation, in the form of a bell and a decreasing number of people, in the form of an urn. Another basis for the classification of age pyramids is the regions. So, models of developed and developing countries are distinguished. This allows you to compare regions and identify their fundamental differences. It is also possible to build the pyramids of certain population groups, for example, representatives of ethnic communities or migrants.
Growing Types of Pyramids
The age-sex pyramid of the population, in which the young generation prevails over the old, is called progressive, or growing. Typically, such societies are characterized by high birth rates. Populations with similar indicators are distinguished by a large number of young people, most often in such societies there is a low life expectancy and high mortality, only a small part of the population survives to senile age. Often this type of reproduction of human resources is called simple or primitive, since it does not involve social protection and the economy.
Stationary types of pyramids
The fixed population pyramid is characterized by low or absent population growth rates. This model is called stationary, because in it the number of newborns is equal to the number of people of young and middle age and only the number of elderly people decreases as they reach 65-70 years, but not sharply, but smoothly. Such pyramids indicate fertility problems and require government intervention, since society cannot be in this state for a long time, and the pyramid goes into the next type - aging.
Descending Types of Pyramids
A pyramid in which mortality slows and fertility decreases is called aging, or decreasing. The structure of such a society is dominated by middle-aged and elderly people, there are few newborns and young people, and over the years such countries are doomed to extinction. Such states have a clear problem with the material support of the elderly, since there are few or no young people who would contribute money to pension funds. Regressive types of society can lead to the disappearance of a population.
Age Pyramid Analysis
Conducting a population census and creating age charts allows you to get absolute and relative data. Thus, analysis of the age-gender pyramid and its comparison with previous data allows us to find out the total population, its total and natural growth, mortality rate, growth in the number of people of different sexes, that is, a large set of statistical information. Traditionally, the analysis of age pyramids takes place according to three main parameters: fertility, mortality, and migration. The most important indicator is life expectancy, it allows you to judge the social well-being of the country. Analysis of the pyramids helps to identify the most significant age groups for subsequent research.
Pyramids of developed countries
The main trend in the age structure of developed countries is the aging of the population. Due to the high quality of medical services and a decent standard of living, the life expectancy of the population of these countries is growing steadily, the leader here is Japan, where there is a fairly pronounced population of people after 80 years of age. Moreover, fertility in developed countries is also steadily declining. Even the US age pyramid, which has always had a large number of newborns, has become stationary in recent years, and this is an alarming symptom. The United States is saving the immigration of young people who give birth to children, but in insufficient quantities. But Europe, especially northern, has already crossed the line and demonstrates a regressive model of the age structure.
Pyramids of developing countries
The states of the "third world" have a completely different age structure. The sex-age pyramid in such states is a younger type. Especially Asian regions demonstrate high and even highest birth rates and short life of people. Only China slightly increases life expectancy, and India, Iran, Vietnam and other countries in the region have a very low indicator for this parameter. Therefore, such problems as unemployment, the shortage of highly qualified personnel, and low living standards appear here. But Africa is the youngest continent today, it is connected with high mortality and short life expectancy of people. African states are implementing a simple method of reproduction, compensating for the loss of population with a huge birth rate.
Russian age pyramids
The sex-age pyramid of Russia differs from similar schemes for many countries by the presence of several deep “wounds”, failures in terms of population, these are traces of the war, as well as less noticeable losses in crisis periods. Russia today is rapidly moving from a stationary type to an aging one. Fertility growth, despite the titanic efforts of the state, is scanty, and life expectancy is growing slowly. This leads to the fact that in the country more than 60% of the population are people over 65 years old. Such an age structure is fraught with dire economic consequences: young people are simply not able to provide for the elderly. Sociologists say that the vast empty territories of the country will certainly attract migrants and this will solve the country's demographic problems if the difficult social and economic consequences of such a resettlement do not arise.
