sociology population growth essay

Policy Assignment #1: Comparing Population Challenges and Solutions SOC 023: Population & Policy Issues

JD Daw, Instructor

Grade Share: 5%

Source material:

This assignment will draw on data from the United Nations Population Division website, which can be

accessed at this link http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Graphs/. Full instructions for obtaining the data can be

found at the end of this document.

Instructions:

For this assignment, choose one country from Group A and one country from Group B:

Group A: Italy, Canada, Japan

Group B: India, Brazil, Nigeria

For each country, briefly summarize:

- Basic population characteristics and history: population size, growth patterns over the last 65 years,

growth patterns to 2100, and fertility and mortality trends

Next, for each country, briefly summarize:

- The historical and projected changes in broad age groups in each country

- A major policy challenge posed by each country’s age-specific growth patterns

- Why each country faces this challenge and the demographic reasons for why these challenges are

different

- Potential solutions to these major challenges. Which do you think is likely to work best under realistic

constraints, and why?

Please restrict your response to 2 pages of writing or less, double spaced. Also please include the graphs from

the United Nations Population Division on which you based your arguments to form a 3rd page of material.

Instructions for obtaining the graphs are found below. Assignments will be graded on their apt use of the

course material, appropriate characterization of population statuses and trends, and realism of the proposed

policy solutions.

Instructions for Accessing the U.N. Population Division Source Material Data

1) Go to the website and click on the demographic profiles button.

2) Select the country of interest from the menu.

3) Staying on the same page after the country’s data has come up, select line charts and copy the

resulting graphs as the results page of your policy brief; base your conclusions on these graphs.