Question

1. Please describe an “age pyramid” for the baby boom generation? Why is the shape of this pyramid so important for future generations to contemplate? (3 points)

Answer 1

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Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boomer generation makes up a substantial portion of the world's population, especially in developed nations. It represents nearly 20% of the American public.

A age pyramid, also called an "age-gender-pyramid", is a graphical illustration that shows the distribution of various age groups in a population (typically that of a country or region of the world), which forms the shape of a pyramid when the population is growing. Males are conventionally shown on the right and females on the left, and they may be measured by raw number or as a percentage of the total population. This tool can be used to visualize and age of a particular population. It is also used in ecology to determine the overall age distribution of a population; an indication of the reproductive capabilities and likeihood of the continuation of a species.

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A age pyramid gives a clear picture of how a country transitions from high fertility to low fertility rate. The broad base of the pyramid means a relative majority of the population lies between ages 0–14, which tells us that the fertility rate of the country is high and above population sub-replacement fertility level. The older population is declining over time due to a shorter life expectancy of sixty years. However, there are still more females than males in these ranges since women have a longer life expectancy. Weeks' Population: an Introduction to Concepts and Issues, considered that the sex ratio gap for the older ages will shrink due to women's health declining due to the effects of smoking, as suggested by the United Nations and U.S. Census Bureau. Moreover, it can also reveal the age-dependency ratio of a population. Populations with a big base, young population, or a big top, an older population, shows that there is a higher dependency ratio. The dependency ratio refers to how many people are dependent on the working class (ages 15–64). According to Weeks' Population: an Introduction to Concepts and Issues, age pyramids can be used to predict the future, known as a population forecast. Population momentum, when a population's birth rates continue to increase even after replacement level has been reached, can even be predicted if a population has a low mortality rate since the population will continue to grow. This then brings up the term doubling time, which is used to predict when the population will double in size. Lastly, a age pyramid can even give insight on the economic status of a country from the age stratification since the distribution of supplies are not evenly distributed through a population.