How Has the Uk Population Changed over the Years Due to Birth Rate, Death Rate and Life Expectancy

The statement above refers to the changes within population within the UK due to the different factors affecting it throughout different times. These factors are birth rate, death rate, infant mortality and life expectancy. Here I will discuss the changes within 3 main time periods: from 1700-1860, 1900-1945 and 1950-present day.

First of all I will talk about birth rate. In the UK birth rate has fell significantly over time. For the period of 1700-1860 the average birth rate was 36 births per woman. This is a very high birth rate due to the factors including: lack of contraception and sexual education so more women have children as they do not understand or know how to prevent becoming pregnant and more workers needed to support family so child labour is a valuable commodity. Then in the period of 1900-1945 the average birth rate was 16. There is a significant decrease compared to the previous period of 20. This is due to more information on birth control by new leaflets from a woman called Annie Besant, World war one so less children born as many men are away fighting for a large period of time and improvements in technology means children are no longer seen as financially viable. For the last period of 1950- present day the birth rate actually goes up due to a significant rise in births after ww2 and it goes up to 17. The birth rate after this does decrease slightly and this is due to: legalised abortion so more women don’t go through with their births, financial recession means partners can’t afford to bring up children, the introduction of the contraceptive pill meaning it is easier to prevent unwanted children and the liberation of homosexual people meaning they are no longer pressurized into having children. So generally over the year’s birth rate has dropped due to these reasons and in turn decrease the population.

Now I will talk about infant mortality. This means how many live children per thousand die before their first birthday. Between 1700 and 1860 it was on average 252 which is staggering, in the period of 1900-1945 the infant mortality was 82 a significant decrease on 252 and on the period of 1950-modern day it was 13 another drastic decrease on the previous period. The infant mortality rate at 252 was due to poor health because of poor sanitation, lack of medical care, disease was common practice and low standard of living meant more children would die before their first birthday. Now as we see the