Aging Population
A natural population increase transpires when birth rates are higher than death rates. However, post World War II saw an explosion in birth rates faster than would be natural, called the Baby Boom. The Baby Boom occurred of account of returning soldiers starting new families. Death rates were significantly lower during the post World War baby boom and thus populations increased substantially. The mass population of people that were all born simultaneously during the Baby Boom, are aging together, meaning the overall population is getting older. The aging population means there will be a dramatic decrease in population size from the increase in death rates over the next decade or so.
Fertility rates and consequently live birth rates declined over the century, while age-adjusted death rates fell more dramatically. Children in 1999 were 10 times less likely to die than children in 1900.
For adults 24–65, death rates have been halved. The death rate for Americans aged 65 to 74 fell from nearly 7% per year to fewer than 2% per year.
The introduction of vaccines for several diseases led to reduced mortality from them. Again developed countries felt the greatest benefit. In the 20th century, vaccines became available for many diseases which caused deaths: diphtheria, pertussis, tuberculosis, tetanus, yellow fever, polio, measles, hepatitis among others.
However, war, genocide and Holocausts have led to many millions of deaths throughout the century, and late in the century AIDS had already killed millions, particularly in Africa and south-east Asia. Cancer also killed millions via lifestyle and pollution generated by industrialization.
Read more about this topic: Death Rates In The 20th Century
Famous quotes containing the words aging and/or population:
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—John Michael Hayes (b.1919)
“[Madness] is the jail we could all end up in. And we know it. And watch our step. For a lifetime. We behave. A fantastic and entire system of social control, by the threat of example as effective over the general population as detention centers in dictatorships, the image of the madhouse floats through every mind for the course of its lifetime.”
—Kate Millett (b. 1934)