Concept
Thepopulationstructure,alsoknownasthecompositionofthepopulation,referstoaresultobtainedbydividingthepopulationaccordingtodifferentstandards.Itreflectsthedifferentqualitativelyprescribedquantitativeproportionalrelationshipswithinthepopulationofacertainregionandacertainpointintime,mainlyincludinggenderstructureandagestructure.Thefactorsthatmakeupthesestandardsmainlyincludeage,gender,race,ethnicity,religion,education,occupation,income,familysize,etc.
Populationstructureclassification
Naturalstructure
Accordingtothebiologicalcharacteristicsofthepopulation,therearemainlygenderstructureandagestructure.Thenaturalstructureofpopulationisnotonlytheinevitableresultofpopulationreproduction,butalsothebasisandstartingpointofpopulationreproduction.Ithasanimportantrestrictiveeffectonthescaleandspeedofpopulationdevelopment,andthushasanimportantimpactonsocialandeconomicdevelopment.Atthesametime,socialandeconomicdevelopmentalsorestrictsthenaturalstructureofthepopulationthroughaseriesofintermediatelinks.
Socialstructure
Accordingtothesocialcharacteristicsofthepopulation,itmainlyincludesclassstructure,ethnicstructure,culturalstructure,languagestructure,religiousstructure,marriagestructure,familystructure,occupationalstructure,anddepartmentStructureetc.Socialeconomicdevelopmentandsocialproductionmethodsdeterminethepopulationandsocialstructureanditschanges;thepopulationandsocialstructurereactstosocialandeconomicdevelopment.Thesocialstructureofthepopulationhasasignificantimpactonpopulationreproduction.Differentclasses,nationalities,cultures,religions,marriages,families,occupations,andsectorshavedifferentbirthrates,deathratesandnaturalgrowthrates,andaveragelifespansalsohavecorrespondingdifferences.
Geographicalstructure
Accordingtothepopulation’sresidentialarea,therearemainlyphysicalgeographicalstructureandadministrativeareastructure.Thegeographicalstructureofthepopulationisrelatedtothegeographicalenvironment,naturalresources,andeconomicdevelopment.Areasonablegeographicalstructureofthepopulationisconducivetothedevelopmentandutilizationofnaturalresourcesandpromotesthedevelopmentofurbanandruraleconomies.Thegeographicalstructureofthepopulationisalsoanimportantreasonfortheregionaldifferencesinthebirthrate,deathrate,andlifeexpectancyofthepopulation.
Significance
Thepopulationstructureisthehistoricalproductofsocial,economic,culturaldevelopmentandhumandevelopment.Undertheinteractionofpopulationandsocialandeconomicdevelopment,theagestructure,urban-ruralstructure,industrialstructure,occupationalstructure,andculturalstructureofthepopulationhaveformedtheirowncharacteristicsandregularitiesofchange.Understandingthetrendofpopulationstructurechangesisofgreatsignificanceformakingpopulationforecasts,formulatingeconomicandsocialdevelopmentplans,andformulatingpopulationpoliciesandsocio-economicpolicies.
Theproportionalrelationshipbetweenthevariouspartsofthepopulationdividedbyvariouscharacteristics.Populationcompositionisthenumberandproportionalrelationshipofvariousattributeswithinthepopulationasawhole.Itreflectsthequality(quality)ofthepopulationandthelevelofeconomicdevelopmentinvariousregionsofthecountry.
Importantfactors
Amongthevariousfactorsofthepopulationstructure,ageandgenderarethemostbasic,coreandmostimportantfactors.Themostinfluentialfactorsinthepopulationstructureareagestructureandgenderstructure.Theidealagestructureshouldmeetthetwocharacteristicsof"lowpopulationgrowthandlonglifespan";lowpopulationgrowthreferstothelowgrowthoftheannualbirthpopulation(thebirthrateisbetween14.0‰and16.0‰)andtherapidgrowthoftheannualbirthpopulation(thebirthrateishigherthan16.0‰)andnegativegrowth(thebirthrateislowerthan14.0‰)willworsenthepopulationstructure!Theidealgenderstructureshouldconformto"thenumberofmenandwomenofthesameageisequalorsimilar."
Agefactor
Generallyspeaking,thegeneralsocialandeconomicconditionsofacountrycanbereflectedthroughthepopulationstructure.Whenitcomestothisissue,ageisthemostimportantfactor.Whendividingthepopulationbyage,itcanberoughlydividedintothefollowingthreemodels.
Thefirsttypeisthegrowthtype.Thatis,thebirthrategreatlyexceedsthedeathrate,andtheproportionofadolescentsinthepopulationisverylarge.Thistypeofsocialpopulationwillincreaserapidlyinarelativelyshortperiodoftime,sothereisnoneedtoworryaboutlaborissuesatall.Thevastnumberofthirdworldcountries,includingmostcountriesinAfrica,India,SoutheastAsiancountries,andSouthAmericancountriesareallofthistype.
Thesecondtypeisthestabletype,thatis,thebirthrateofthepopulationisroughlyequivalenttothedeathrate.Youngandmiddle-agedpeopleaccountfortheuppermiddlepartofthesocialpopulation.Thepopulationofthistypeofsocietywillremaininarelativelystablestate,andwillnotincreaseordecreasesignificantly.
Thethirdtypeistheagingtype,thatis,thebirthrateofthepopulationisslightlylowerthanorequaltothedeathrate,andtheelderlyaccountforalargerproportionofthepopulation,anditwillbecomelargerandlarger.Thistypeofsocialpopulationtendstoageanddecrease.Themajordevelopedcountriesintheworld,excepttheUnitedStates,aregraduallydevelopingtowardsanagingsociety.Theimprovementoflivingandmedicalstandards,coupledwiththereductionofthebirthrate,hasledtothelackofsufficientlaborinagingcountries,whichhascausedaverylargesociety.problem.Suchasendowmentinsurance,medicalcarefortheelderly,aggravationofsocialburdensandsoon.
Genderfactor
Genderisanotherimportantfactor.Accordingtobiologicalprinciples,theprobabilityofahumanbeingtogivebirthtomaleandfemaleoffspringisthesame,thatistosay,eachaccountfor50%.Fromtheperspectiveofthewholeworld,thisisindeedthecase.However,inafewcountries,duetotraditionalsocialconceptsandsomespecialreasons,theproportionofmenandwomeninthepopulationstructureisimbalanced.
Inthepast,itwasthoughtthatthereweretensofmillionsmoremeninChinathanwomen.However,thesixthcensusshowedthatthemalepopulationinmycountryaccountedfor51.27%;thefemalepopulationaccountedfor48.73%,andtheoverallproportionisnotoutofbalance.ThiskindofproblemalsoexistsinIndia.BecausethedowryforIndianwomenisveryhigh,manyfamilieschoosetodrowntheirbabygirlssothatthewholefamilywillnotfallintopovertyduetomaritalproblems.Inaddition,certainexternalreasonscanalsocausepopulationimbalances.Forexample,afterWorldWarII,thegovernmentencouragedchildbirthduetothedeathoftoomanymenintheSovietUnionduringWorldWarII.
Althoughotherclassificationmethodsexist,theyarenotascommonandrealisticasthefirsttwo.
ThecompositionofChina'spopulation
Asthelocomotiveoftheworldeconomy,Chinaisincreasinglyfacingtheproblemofanagingpopulation.
Usually,theproportionofpeopleover65yearsofageismorethan7%ofthetotalpopulation,whichiscalledan"agingsociety",andmorethan14%iscalledan"agingsociety".Chinareached7.6%in2005.Infact,Chinahasalreadyenteredanagingsocietyin2001.
Fromanagingsocietytoanagingsociety,ittook115yearsforFrance,47yearsforBritain,40yearsforGermany,and24yearsforJapan.Thespeedisamazing.AccordingtothedemographicdataoftheUnitedNations,Chinawillenteranagingsocietyfrom2024to2026,atroughlythesamerateasJapan.
OneofthereasonsforthissituationisthatChinahasimplementedtheone-childpolicy,whichhasledtoadeclineinthebirthrate.Ofcourse,thedeclineinthebirthratewillnotbeimmediatelylinkedtotheagingofthepopulation.The"production-agepopulation"aged15to65whocanparticipateineconomicactivitiesisstillincreasing.Thiscountrywithahighpopulationratiotendstohavegrowthpotential.Thisistheso-called"demographicdividend."Fromthegeneralexperience,ifwedealwiththedemographicproblemproperlyandmakefulluseofthedemographicdividend,wecancatchupwithdevelopedcountries.Tothisend,weneedtoestablishalabormarketthatcanabsorbyoungpeople.Japanhasalmostachievedfullemploymentduringtheperiodofrapideconomicgrowth,andhasmaximizedtheroleofthedemographicdividend.
So,whatwillhappentoChina?Fromtheperspectiveofdemographiccomposition,thedemographicdividendperiodbeganfrom1965to1970.Atthattime,Chinawasattheclimaxofsocialistconstruction.Duetolowproductionefficiency,theaverageannualeconomicgrowthratefrom1965to1978wasonly3.9%.Sincethereformandopeningup,China'seconomyhasgrownrapidly,butthelaborforcewilldecreasein2015.Japan’sdemographicdividendendedinthe1990s,andChina,likeSouthKoreaandTaiwan,isexpectedtoendaround2015.SouthKoreaandTaiwan’sincomehasreachedthelevelofdevelopedcountries,whileChina’spercapitagrossdomesticproduct(GDP)isstilllessthan$4,000.Inotherwords,beforeChinabecomesadevelopedcountry,thedemographicdividendwillend.
TherearemanyfarmersinruralChina,andtheyareactuallyunemployed.Theyflockedtothecitiesasmigrantworkersinlargenumbers,lookingforjobs.AslongasChinagivesfullplaytotheroleofmigrantworkers,itcanextendandenjoythedemographicdividendforalongtime.ThedevelopmentofcitiessuchasShanghaiandBeijingcanbeattributedtothis.
Butontheotherhand,thedemographicdividendperiodmayalsobeshortened.Mostofthepeoplewhoflowintothecitiesareyoungpeople,andthelargenumberofoldpeoplestayinginthecountrysidehasacceleratedtheagingofthecountryside.Inaddition,youngpeoplegenerallyhavehigheracademicqualifications,whileolderpeoplewhostayinruralareasoftendonothaveexperience,knowledgeandskillsoutsideofagriculture.Inthefuture,theywillnotbeabletolookforworklikeyoungmigrantworkers.Inthatcase,thedemographicdividendperiodmaybeshortened.
ManypeopleexpecttheprosperityofShanghaiandBeijingtospreadtotheregionandforma"bigmarketof1.3billionpeople."
Shanghai’spercapitaGDPhasexceeded10,000USdollars,whilethevastruralareasareanotherway.Theissueofagingisfirstmanifestednotincitieswithlowbirthrates,butinpoorruralareas,andtheruralsocialsecuritysystemisnotsound.
Chinawilltakeanunprecedentedpathof"enteringaginginthelow-incomestage"intheworld.
DemographiccompositionoftheUnitedStates
TheUnitedStatesisasuperpower.Peoplewhocometothiscountryforinvestigationgenerallypaymoreattentiontoeconomicdevelopmentandsocio-politicalphenomenaandignorepopulationdevelopment.Infact,thepopulationdevelopmentoftheUnitedStatesisalsointriguing.DiverseracialstructureTheUnitedStatesisamulti-racialcountry.Accordingtothe2000Census,theUnitedStateshasasingle-racialpopulationof275million,accountingfor97.6%;andamixedraceof6.8million,accountingfor2.4%.Inasinglerace,211millionwhitepeople,accountingfor76.7%ofthetotalpopulation;34millionblackpeople,accountingfor12.3%;10.24millionAsianpeople,accountingfor3.6%.ThesingleraceintheUnitedStatesismadeupofracesfrom68differentcountries.
Theformationofthismulti-ethnicsituationismainlyattributedtoimmigration.TheUnitedStatesisatypicalimmigrantcountry.Thereareonly4.1millionso-calledAmericanIndiansandAlaskannativesandtheirdescendants,accountingforonly1.5%ofthetotalpopulationofthecountry,andmostofthemcomefromotherethnicimmigrantsandtheirdescendantsabroad.Beginningattheendofthe15thcenturywhentheNewWorldwasdiscovered,countriessuchasSpain,theNetherlands,France,andtheUnitedKingdombegantoimmigratetoNorthAmerica,whichopenedthedoorforAmericanimmigration.By1773,Britainhadestablished13colonies.Accordingtostatistics,from1820to183yearsin2002,atotalof68.22millionforeignresidentsmovedtotheUnitedStates,including38.82millionfromEurope,9.42millionfromAsia,18.95millionfromAmerica,790,000fromAfrica,and240,000fromOceania..AmongAsiancountries,thecountrywiththemostimmigrantstotheUnitedStatesisthePhilippines(1.63million),followedbyChina(1.44million),andthethirdisIndia(950,000).