An example of international voluntary migration would be Polish people moving to the UK in recent years. This is due to the expansion of the European Union which has allowed many people to move freely from Eastern Europe to the UK. Unlike many other European countries the UK has not restricted migrants from entering the country which has encouraged this movement. There are other pull factors such as a better quality of life with access to good services such as schools and hospitals. There is also more opportunity to find better paid employment in the UK as there is a shortage of people willing to work in low paid, manual jobs, with unsociable hours such as on the shop floor in Asda or B and Q. Push factors have also influenced this migration as work in Poland is lower paid and there is a lower quality of life especially in the rural areas.

An example of Forced International Migration is the movement of people from Chad to Sudan in recent times. This is ultimately due to civil war which has threatened many families who may have been persecuted for their religion or beliefs. These people have been forced to leave Chad and seek refuge across the border in refugee camps in Sudan. Additional push factors include drought and famine as without government aid many people who rely on farming have no way to obtain food when there is a drought. Sudan provides a safe place where the UN and Red Cross have set up refuges camps to provide shelter, food and water.

Consequences of a rapid population growth

A rapid population growth is usually associated with Stages 2 and 3 of the DTM, when birth rates remain high but death rates decline rapidly usually due to economic development. There are a number of consequences associated with this population growth. Firstly with a high birth rate the government will need to provide primary health care and education for a large majority of the population. There will also be an increase demand on scarce resources such as land, water and food. This may lead to drought, famine or in more severe cases conflict and civil unrest. There will also be an environmental consequence as deforestation will increase in an attempt to provide more land and wood for building or fuel this can lead to soil erosion and during wet season mud slides. More people will move form the rural areas to the urban areas in search of work and a better quality of life. The government will not be able to provide shelter for these migrants and as a result Shanty towns will grow and develop. There are consequences associated with these such as over crowding, disease and crime.

Describe some of the problems associated with an ageing population.

Some problems the government will have to deal with as a result of an ageing population are that the health care system will be overcrowded with old people, a pension short fall could occur due to less people working than the amount of people getting pensions. Elderly people need low down single level housing and so more of these houses will have to be built for them. Transportation will have to be more frequent as older people lose vision and cannot drive around, free transportation will cost the government a lot of money. Due to less people working the government will have less money in circulation to trade for food. Old people need nursing care and more nursing staff will needed but they might be obligated to stay and look after their own mum/grandmother.

By Craig Halfpenny

Suggest reasons for the changes shown in the table

Twentieth century population changes in the UK: The population has risen 21 million from the early 1990’s when it was 38 million to 59 million in 1990’s one of the reasons for this is improved medical care decreasing the death rate for example primary health care such as vaccinations protecting the elderly from flu and other infections. Improvements in health care are always happening for instance every family has their own doctor is the main reason death rate has decreased 14 per thousand to 11 per thousand in the late 1990’s because all new health care advances spot common illness much earlier and are now more treatable. Another reason for population changes is the declining birth rate this is because couples tend to marry later in life, less time to have children and families aren’t needing as many children at old age, better education on contraception as also a factor. Infant mortality rate is decreasing because of better health care.

By Euan Gailey