Changes to the UK population. Changes to the population age structure in the UK have been caused by social and economic factors. The social factors affecting the population age include healthcare, lifestyle, education and migration.

Changes to the population age structure in the UK have been caused by social and economic factors. The social factors affecting the population age include healthcare, lifestyle, education and migration. The National Health Service was established in 1948, the NHS offer free healthcare to everybody, this service includes an accident and emergency department and vaccinations against serious diseases. The availability of healthcare to more people has increased life expectancy. The changes that UK citizens have made to their lifestyle has also increased their life expectancy. The government now make sure that they advertise the risks associated with alcohol, cigarettes and certain types of food. The EU health and safety laws also regulate most hazardous aspects of people’s lives; seat belts must be worn, restaurants must be hygienic and buildings must have fire exits. Globalisation has caused most manufacturing and dangerous jobs like mining to move overseas. There are now more people in the UK working in almost risk free office environment, this has again increased life expectancy.

Sex education has now become compulsory to teach in British schools, this means that teenagers are more aware of the risk of underage sex and early pregnancy. In 1961 oral contraceptive pills became legal, this was followed by abortion becoming legal.

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In 1980 the AIDS awareness campaign resulted in condoms becoming more widely available, they are free in most pharmacies in the UK. The status of women in society is another reason why birth rates have fallen. The suffragette movement in the early 20th century led to changes in the attitude of women, giving them more freedom. This caused a reduction in the birth rate as women felt free to peruse their own careers and delay having children, or having fewer children. The average age at which women want to start a family is now 30.

The UK population age structure has also been affected by economic factors; the cost of living and global conflict/connections have been the most significant. In terms of global connections, the causes of falling birth rates are sometimes due to reasons external to the UK. The global depression of the 1930’s gave people a much lower real income, this meant that the cost of living rose and some British parents began to limit their family size, reducing the country’s birth rate; parents usually limit their family size to maintain and pass on their lifestyle of consumerism. Britain has just come out of a recession and there is less money to spend with local governments and in the private sector. There is a degree of

insecurity in many families as to spending their cash seeing as many jobs are at risk. This has caused families to think more carefully when planning their families. The age discrimination bill means that people can now work at an older age, this takes advantage of the elderly population and leaves less people reliant on the government.

To conclude, people are now living longer; there is a reduction is birth rates and an increase in life expectancy in the UK due to a number of factors. This means that that the UK now has an elderly population.

10 (b) Explain how social and economic factors have led to changes in the UK’s population age structure.