Youthful populations: case study Gambia

Define key terms “economically active”, “young dependants”, “old dependants” and “dependency

ratios”. I can understand how to calculate dependency rationsI can explain problems caused by high numbers of old

dependants in MEDC’s and young dependants in LEDC’s: case study Gambia

Key terms: Economically active: The total population between the

ages of 15 and 65 in any country

Youthful population: A population with a high proportion of young people usually under the age of 16 or 18

Old dependants: A population with a high proportion of old people usually over the age of 65

Dependency ratio: A measure showing the number of dependents (aged 0-14 and over the age of 65) to the total population (aged 15-64).

Dependency ratio:

• Calculated by:

This indicator gives insight into the amount of people of non-working age compared to the number of those of working age. A high ratio means those of working age - and the overall economy - face a greater burden in supporting the aging population.

The young dependency ratio includes only under 15s, and the elderly dependency ratio focuses on those over 64. For example, if in a population of 1,000 there are 250 people under the age of 15 and 500 people between the ages of 15-64. The youth dependency ratio would be 50% (250/500).

Triangular graphsTriangular graphs

Children

Elderly

Adults

UK

Children – 30%Adults – 58%Elderly – 12%

This type of graph may also be included on paper1: Geographical skills

Children

Adults Elderly

UK 30 58 12Japan 22 56 22Ghana 65 33 2Brazil 38 54 8World 45 48 7

Youthful Populations: Where/Why?

• High proportion of young people due to high birth rates and a reduction in infant mortality. This is due to better nutrition, education and medical care.

• This may create problems since the children need feeding, housing, education and eventually a job.

• Medical care and education has to be paid for by taxing a proportionally small number of workers.

Youthful Population Structure (Population Pyramids)

Seen as a wide base on population pyramids that reflect high birth rates in LEDCs.

Youthful Population Structure (DTM)

• Stage 2:

• This is where the birth rates are high but the death rates begin to fall.

• This results in the population increasing.

• Lots of countries in the developing world are at this stage, due to improved medical care, but poor education.

The Gambia

The Gambia is the smallest African country

The birth rate is 40 per 1000 population

95% of Gambia’s population are Muslim. There has been a taboo on contraceptives

A Typical Gambian WomanFertility rate:

Other Factors that may lead to a growing population in The Gambia

The Desire for a large family remains strong.

Larger families are seen as a sign of security.

The Stigma and cost of contraception- links to religious background.

Case study notes from DVD: The Gambia

• Youthful populations: Case study Gambia• Why do Gambian women have so many children?• What will be the impacts of a large population for

Gambia in the future?• What has been done abut the youthful population?

Large potential workforceCost of schools and clinicsNeed to provide food, housing and water to growing

populationHigh rates of unemploymentAttractive to new investorsSource of innovation and ideasLarge numbers living in slum housingHigh crime ratesHigh rate of population growthLarge market for potential goodsDevelopment of services such as schoolsPolitical instability due to unsatisfactory living standardsMany countries lack economy to take advantage of extra

workers

Example of innovations from a youthful population

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=110&v=Jci-_Vu5UYY

Why and how have young Africans developed mobile phone technology?

6 mark case study question from May 2015This means

that SPAG will be considered

Both positive and negative needed (not necessarily equally)

Always use case study detail in a 6 mark question (even if it is not asked for)

You need to say why it is a positive or negative

Mark scheme