Population Growth in China and Canada - Essay Example

? Population Growth in China (A1) Explanations of population growth in China and Canada Both China and Canada have experienced significant changes in their population structures; at times there was either a sudden and large increase in the population, or there was a steady drop in the population. As a result of careful analysis of the past and the present situation, there have been various reasons associated with the changing population growth in both China and Canada. In the case of Canada, it had witnessed a population growth from 9 million to 14 million from 1921 to 1951 (Ryder, 1954). Ryder gives several reasons for this growth. He claims that one cause was the addition of 344,000 individuals from Newfoundland in April 1949 when it became part of Canada; another cause was the "reversal of the flow of net migration," and a third and most significant cause was the increase in the birth to death ratio at the time. The fact that the birth rate was rising above the death rate was so important that for the next few years after 1946 the population of Canada had grown by three million people; Canada has experienced a high natural rate of increase, owing to the increase in the average lifespan of men and women, and a decrease in the infant mortality rate (Ryder, 1954). The fact that between 1941 and 1951 the percentage of married women rose significantly also contributed towards the accelerating rate of natural increase (Ryder, 1954). Moving towards analysis of the population scene in Canada today, there are 35 million people presently living in Canada (Radia, 2012). The major reason for the population growth in the recent years has been blamed on Canada's tolerant immigration system, since almost 250,000 people are allowed to migrate to Canada every year (Radia, 2012). Looking at the population growth trends in China, there were increases in its population during the 1950s mainly because of the decline of the mortality rate as a result of the government's expenditure on public health care and on providing land and other resources to its citizens; in 1953 the death rate was just 14 in 1000 (Riley, 2004). Another reason given for the population growth was that the government assumed that more people would mean a stronger labor force and greater political strength (Riley, 2004). However, between 1960 and 1980 China experienced a sharp decline in fertility; it was calculated that the number of children a woman could bear fell from 6 to 2 (Riley, 2004). Apart from this, the Chinese government started calling for birth planning in 1979 because the growing population was considered to be a hindrance to economic growth (Riley, 2004); in 1979 it was therefore decided that all households were only allowed to produce one child. (A2) Describing the Population Growth Rates in Canada and China; how far does migration affect the population growth? Studying the graphs given for the population growth in Canada by Ryder, from 1921 to 1931, from 1941 to 1951 and from 1946 to 1953 the number of immigrants exceeded that of emigrants, demonstrating that more people were added to the country's population than the number of those who were leaving the country (Ryder, 1954). It is also important to remember that in 1949 there were 334,000 individuals from Newfoundland who had just become part of Canada (Ryder, 1954). Additionally it must be kept in mind that Canadian government has a tolerant and liberal policy towards immigrants and how every year 250,000 people or more are allowed to enter into Canada's population (Radia, 2012). However, there were times in its history where Canada saw a decrease in its population because of the emigration of Canadians to America as a result of American government's lenient immigration policies towards Canadians 9ryder, 1954). Ryder has gone on to describe America as either the "safety valve of Canadian surplus," or a land of opportunity for the Canadians (Ryder, 1954). Moving onto China, it was estimated that 40% of the construction workers in Beijing in the 1990s had emigrated from another country (Riley, 2004). Chinese government however felt that migration could disrupt the social and economic lives of its citizens, so new policies were passed to control migration (Riley, 2004). (A3) Concerns about Depopulation and Overpopulation. China has certainly demonstrated itself to be concerned about overpopulation, seen from the way it has passed birth planning policies and limited households to producing only one child (Riley, 2004). Since the government believed that overpopulation would cause a hindrance in the country's economic growth and unnecessarily consume national resources, they starting pursuing extreme measures of controlling the population from 1979 onwards (Riley, 2004); rewards and punishments were given out to force people to adopt the one child policy the government was propagating (Riley, 2004). The government has also passed policies that restrict migrations since it is believed that migrants are a "drain" on resources and disruptive to social life of the Chinese citizens (Riley, 2004). In the case of Canada, it does not appear to be concerned about the dangers of overpopulation; its lenient immigration policies rather show that they are welcoming new people to become part of the population. Canada's aging population today means that more young people are required to be in the workforce (Radia, 2012); Radia also claims that there have been Canadian columns calling the government to allow more immigrants to enter Canada to help reduce the labor shortages in the country. Some have even advocated the allowance of more immigrants since this will create a new Canada whose cultural diversity will allow it to be a strong contender in the consumer market and international political affairs (Radia, 2012). Clearly Canada is not concerned about overpopulation; rather, it is trying to increase the number of immigrants to it. (A4) Expected time of China and Canada populations to Double? According to recent surveys the rate of population growth in China calculated from a total number of births and deaths taken place in the country as well as the total number of emigrants and immigrants that have entered and left the country in the year 2012 is only 0.481 percent. This value of 0.481 percent is considered very low as compared to many other countries and when the rule of 69 is applied to this figure it gives us more than a century i.e. around 144 years of time when the population of china will be double. Talking about Canada, its annual increase in population has decreased from 1.02 in the year 2000 to 0.78 in the year 2012 and applying the rule of 69 here would give us the time frame of around 89 years for population to get doubles. References Radia, A. (2012). Canada's population reaches 35 million, fastest growing in the G8. Yahoo News. Retrieved from http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/canada-politics/canada-population-reaches-35-million-fastest-growing-g8-174256519.html Riley, N. E. (2004). China’s population: New trends and challenges. Population Bulletin. Retrieved from http://www.case.edu/affil/tibet/tibetanSociety/documents/Riley2004.pdf Ryder, N. B. (2013). Components of Canadian population growth. JSTOR. 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