For the last 50 years Japan has given a commemorative silver cup to each of its citizens on their 100th birthday. The number of people over 100 back then was limited but that number has exploded recently as Japan now has on average the oldest population on Earth. Japan also faces an economy burdened by a heavy national debt. Those factors have combined to cause the Japanese government to suspend the traditional gift as it has become too expensive to continue.
This site has posted previously on the increasing population crisis in Japan. To see the original post follow the link below:
Japan currently sells more adult diapers than baby diapers.
This might seem a bit amusing until you analyze the problems created by this fact. I have previously written about Japan’s population crisis, for a more in-depth analysis follow the link below:
The Buffalo Bills were scheduled to host the New York Jets today in a game between division rivals. Instead the Bills will play the Jets in Detroit on Monday night as the city is still digging itself out from two snow storms that dropped five feet of snow over western New York. Most people would not usually associate an NFL game being postponed and moved with Human Geography, but as always everything comes back to Human Geography.
When my students break down population patterns around the country one of the cities that comes up every year is Naples, Florida. The population in that city is disproportionately made up of elderly people, as Naples is one of the prime retirement destinations in the country. If you are wondering what the population pattern of Naples has to do with a record breaking snowstorm in upstate New York I assure you that the connection is real.
I ask my students to imagine themselves in the following scenario: they are a retired 70 year old factory worker living in the Northeast. Where would they rather be in the dead of winter, scraping ice off their windshield and shoveling snow in Buffalo or playing nine holes of golf in Naples where it’s 78 degrees. The answer is always overwhelmingly Naples.
The environmental pull factors that draw people out of the cold weather and to warm destinations are obvious. They have contributed heavily to the recent trend of the population shifting southward. This migration shift is only expected to grow as the American population gets older and more people enter retirement. Buffalo is one of many cities in the “Rust Belt” that is currently losing population and the recent extreme weather will likely convince many more to head south because the NFL has yet to postpone a game due to extreme sunshine.
Eleven women in the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have died after undergoing sterilization procedures over the weekend. Dozens more have been hospitalized with several of these women in critical condition. These women were operated on by a mobile surgical team that treated 83 patients in a five hour span on Saturday.
India’s sterilization policy has been criticized since it was introduced in the 1970s. In an attempt to slow down births in the world’s second most populated country the government instituted a payment system where people that voluntarily get sterilized would receive a cash bonus.
One of the strongest arguments against this policy is that it preys upon the poorest of the Indian population. It serves as a type of class warfare where those desperate to get their hands on a few dollars subject themselves to the procedure. Knowing that their patients are desperate allows for the quality of facilities to be shoddy at best. These traveling surgical teams often lack the sanitary conditions needed to safely treat their patients. If infection develops the proper facilities needed to treat these women often do not exist.
Human rights groups have tried to pressure the Indian government to change the nearly 40 year old policy. If the recent tragedy does not make the Indian government change its payments for sterilization program one can hope that it will force investment in better facilities for women that agree to the procedures. These women deserved better than to have died for a $23 “bonus.”
Introducing a New Feature to The Human Geo Guy, it’s called, “Alarming Fact.” Instead of a full length blog post it will be a short, simple piece of information that mostly speaks for itself.
Alarming Fact: The average woman in Niger will give birth to 7 children.
The Human Geo Guy’s Take: Niger is one of the poorest countries on the planet and suffers from mass starvation. It has few prospects for economic development and any hope of their quality of life improving depends on being able to bring their population growth under control.
Japan is home of the world’s third largest economy, trailing only the United States and China, and has been viewed as the ultimate success story following the devastation of World War II. They managed to transform a war battered country into a technological pioneer with a remarkably high standard of living. Japan has been held up as a model for the poor world to follow in their pursuit of development. For the past half century it has been rare to hear negative news as it relates to the future prospects of the East Asian power which makes their current population trend even more alarming.
The current fertility rate in Japan is 1.4, one of the lowest rates on Earth and well below the 2.1 threshold needed to maintain a population at a stable level. Many women are choosing to not marry and have children because they prefer to pursue careers and challenge traditional gender roles. Once women marry they are expected to give up their jobs and take care of the home and family. Given the option of being glorified maids or using their higher educations to achieve financial independence, they are choosing to work. Adding to the issue is the lack of child care available to mothers who would like to return to work. Not only are child care options limited, but if they can find one the costs are ridiculously high. Continue reading Human Geography: The Declining and Aging Population of Japan→
When my daughter was born on July 16, 2014 she contributed to multiple population trends in the United States.
As a Human Geography teacher one of the main issues I must focus on throughout the course is population growth. We constantly look at population numbers and focus on the amount of resources that will be necessary to maintain an adequate standard of living. Some parts of the world have population growth they can sustain due to economic development, others located in the less developed countries can’t provide for the current population, much less a rapidly growing one. Today my focus on population growth is less about long term survival but more so about how one child can fit into the general patterns. The reason I’m focusing on this particular element is because my wife and I welcomed our third child into the world today.
Total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the average number of children a woman will have during her childbearing years. The current TFR in the United States is 2.01, lower than what is considered the replacement rate of 2.1 to achieve zero population growth or when a population maintains itself at the current level. This being our third child my wife has exceeded the average and ever so slightly nudged our population growth rate upward. My newborn daughter also counts towards another statistic, the crude birth rate. Crude birth rate (CBR) is the number of children below the age of 1 out of the average 1000 people in a population, in the United States the current CBR is 13.42.
My daughter has also contributed to a significant demographic trend, the increasing minority population. My family background is Cuban and my wife’s family is of Colombian origin, making us part of the largest minority group in the country, Hispanics. In 2012 the Census Bureau put out a report stating that, for the first time in US history, white births accounted for less than half of all children born the previous year. This trend is only expected to accelerate in the future as the white population is on average significantly older than the Hispanic population.
As the proud parent of three beautiful and healthy children I see my family as a blessing that I cherish every day. At the same time, as a human geographer I must constantly remind myself to take a step back and analyze events, people, my family, and even myself in terms of the overall makeup of society.
Helping Students Succeed on the AP® Human Geography Exam since 2008.
