Introduction to Urban Studies
Introduction to Urban Studies
Urban studies offer an interdisciplinary approach to physical design, economy, government, culture, history, spatial design, and social issues and life. It makes students focus on urgent issues that plague cities and also gets them to think about how continuous urban growth affects the environment and the people. It works to get students to look at solutions to remove equality in urban areas.
Some of the topics that are covered include the following:
The Natural Decline in Population in USA
The natural decline in population in the US has been noted for many years now. There is a noticeable drop in fertility rates all around the world, and the US is not immune to this problem.
Between the years 2017 and 2018, the numbers for births around the United States have dropped significantly. It has been shown, that for women of ages between 15 and 44, there were 56 births per 1,000 women. This number, unfortunately, is the lowest that it has been since the Great Depression.
Fertility affecting population growth
Fertility rates of a country can say a lot about the country’s wellbeing and population. High birth rates deplete the economy of a country and similarly, low birth rates can mean not enough support in terms of workers and industry for the future of the country.
“Replacement” fertility rates of 2.1 are a fair number to keep the population of the country stable, whereas in the USA, in 2017, the fertility rate dropped to 1.76. By the year 2018, the numbers have dropped further and are not encouraging at 1.72.
A CDC report based on the more than 99% of US birth records, states “The rate has generally been below replacement since 1971 and consistently below replacement for the last decade”. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC is the leading public health institution in the USA.
Immigrant children account for a large section of the population
Another contributing factor in population decline is the change in immigration policies. As per statistics, immigrant children account for 26% of the 70 million children under eight-teen. This number has increased since 2000, from 19%.
Also, the projected immigration contribution to the population by 2060 is thought to be 75 million; this is then, accounting for an increase in population by 95%. If considering an ideal scenario, the net immigration will hit a projected 16 million by 2060, (370,000 annually), and the population contribution for numbers like that is thought to be 354 million in 2060.
There are various other factors leading to declining population, however, these two points stand out. Fertility issues are one of the leading problems in the USA and there are various factors contributing to it. Lifestyle changes are one of the major contributing factors for this, as more women are leading hectic lives; also, women are choosing to have children at a later age than before, which makes this problem a reality. Coupled with hectic work life, hormonal changes lead to earlier menopause. The recent change in policy in immigration is highlighting this problem rather than deflecting it. There are various other social reasons for this change
, only the two major causes have been highlighted in the article.