German Population - Research Paper Example

Geography & Human Habitat Research Paper Country This paper aims to analyze the population details of a chosen country in detail. It will also discuss what factors are responsible for this change and what measures the government of that country is taking in order to control the population. I have chosen Germany as the country I will be studying. There are a lot of reasons for why I have chosen Germany as the country for my case study. First of all, Germany is a very significant country internationally as it has the third largest economy in the world. Secondly, Germany has the second largest population in Europe after Russia. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008) Another reason is that it was very active in World War I and II and as a result, it got separated into two regions, West Germany and East Germany. By the studying the population change over the last 50 years, we will be able to find out how this separation affected the population distribution. Another factor which makes Germany stand out and ideal for this case study is the fact that Germany is listed as the host of the third-highest percentage of international migrants worldwide. (United Nations Population Fund, 2006) Besides this, Germany's population is changing in a way where the birthrates are much lower than the death rates which is causing the population to age. Therefore, studying this will help us learn a lot about one of the most pressing problems for countries all over the world. These were all the facts that made Germany ideal for a population change case study. I also have a few personal reasons for why I have selected Germany as my country under study. Firstly, every year I hear about Berlinale, F1 race, Internationales Beethovenfest and Oktoberfest, which are makes me very interested in Germany. However, the main reason for choosing Germany is that a few of my friends and I are planning to go Germany for a vacation after this spring term, so this assignment is a great chance for me to discover more about Germany before I go there. Germany also has alot of amazing buildings, such as Neuschwanstein Castle, which was built by Knig Ludwig II based on the idea of a fairly tales castle. Therefore, I'm really interested in Germany, as it is a place with so much things to learn about. Introduction According to the July 2008 estimates, the population of Germany is approximately 82,315,548. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008) The total population figure has also been falling recently. In 1958, the population of Germany was 72,031,000. Out of these, 54,719,000 were in West Germany while 17,312,000 were in East. As we can see, the population has risen by approximately 10,284,548 since then. However, if we look at the yearly trends, the population growth rate fluctuated a lot. The population growth rate was not positive through out. From 1958 the population change rate has been mostly increasing, although, there have been years when this rate was negative. There has been no drastic percentage change in the population throughout these 50 years. The maximum increase has been 1 percent and the maximum decrease has been 0.5 percent. From 1950 till 1973, the population kept on increasing. This pattern change when the population started to fall till 1985. Then it started to increase again, reached its maximum in 2003 and since then it has been falling. (Population Reference Bureau) Also, another change can be seen in the distribution on population within East and West Germany. In 2006, the population in West Germany was 65,667,000 and the population of East Germany was 16,648,000. As we compare this with 1958's data, we notice that the population in West Germany has increased while the population in East Germany has decreased. (Federal Statistical Office, 2007) Factors Affecting Population and Change The projection of population carried out by the Federal Statistical Office show that the population will keep on falling in future and by 2050, the lower limit of the expected population will approximately be what it was in 1950. According to Population Reference Bureau, the population will fall by 13 percent by 2050. (Population Reference Bureau) The government is worried because this fall in population is largely the result in fall in birth rate. According to the Population Reference Bureau, in 2008, the percentage change because of Births and Deaths in population was -0.2 percent. This means that the totally population in Germany fell by 0.2 percent from last years as a result of natural factors i.e. Births and Deaths. The number of births per 1000 population is approximately 8 while the number of deaths per 1000 population is approximately 10. In simpler words, it means that per 1000 people, 8 babies are added, and at the same time, 10 people are taken away from the population. (Population Reference Bureau, 2008) According to the statistics, more people in Germany are dying than the number of babies born and immigration is not enough to cover this deficit. (Work Permit, 2006) After the rate of migration, which is 2.19 migrants per 1000 population, is included, the estimate percentage growth rate is -0.044 percent. This is still negative and this proves that the migration level cannot also account for the deficit in the population. The fertility rates in countries all over Europe are very low. In Germany, the fertility rate is 1.41 children born per woman. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008) This figure is a problem for the government because it is too low. As a result, the population of Germany is aging. This means that the old people in the country are increasing and are making a larger fraction of the total population, while the younger generation is decreasing. This increases the dependency ratio of the country. Dependency ratio is the ratio of people who cannot earn for themselves therefore; they are dependent on those who can work. When this happens, the working population has more people to support. It also increases the pressure on the government as it now has more expenditure in terms of pensions, social security and health care. The diagram below shows the age structure of the German population in 2006. As you can see, the fraction of older population (above 60 years of age) is high. At present it is not a threat, but in future, if this keeps on going, the expected age will increase and hence, the older population will increase. Since the birth rates will be low, the lower age fraction would fall leaving the age structure diagram of the German population such that it will be wider from the top and narrow from the bottom. (Federal Statistical Office, 2007) The government has taken quite a few initiatives to control the population. First of all, the government of Germany is trying to get people to have more babies. It has started to provide benefits for people with more babies. One significant benefit is Baby Bonus. According to this, the parents who stay at home for the babies first year will receive two thirds of their previous year's income. This motivates the parents to have more babies as the first year is what usually stops the working population from having babies. It is also common in Europe to give mothers paid maternity leaves. (Foreign Policy, 2007) Every family is given a certain amount in terms of social security. The more babies in the family, the higher will be this amount. According to the Minister of Family Affairs Germany, by the year 2010 must create at least 230,000 new child care places for children in western Germany and at the same time it must maintain the good day care situation in the eastern part of the country, but this is not it. There is more to it than just passing a law. In order to be effective, it has to be followed through to make sure that action is taken. (DW-World, 2005) The German government has also taken initiatives to attract more working age labor in the country through migration. (Migration Information, 2004) If the government does not take this step, it will soon run out of skilled labor. Germany has always faced this problem. In history, we have seen that German government in order to decrease migration built Berlin wall which stopped people from migrating from East Germany. In order to tackle the problem of the aging population and in order to lift of the pressure from the working population, Germany also has a pension system for retired people. However, the government fears that this maybe too low to handle the problem that it will be facing in future. (Life Site News, 2004) Discussion As we have discussed above, there are quite a few factors that are responsible for this population change. In my opinion, the most important reason for this population change is low fertility rates. This figure is very low which means that couples are having very few babies. This is a threat to the government as this is also a major reason responsible for the aging population that Germany is facing. This puts a lot of pressure on Germany's welfare budget. (Gudrun Schultz, 2006) Germany has a birth rate of 1.4 percent. This makes it one of the most rapidly shrinking populations in the world. (DW World, 2005) The figure has fallen so low that the German government has admitted that this problem is irreversible. Immigration cannot even cover for this shortage. The birthrate is the lowest in the whole of Europe. (Gudrun Schultz, 2006) Another factor responsible for aging population is the fact that even though the immigration levels is very high, it is not high enough to tackle this problem. One more factor that could account for the falling population is higher death rates than the birth rates. As mentioned above the death rate per 1000 population is 2 more than the birth rate. The government is trying to tackle this by improving its health care and giving the older population better lifestyle. But since the death rate is already very low, the increase in health care is not really benefiting the German old age population. Conclusion The situation in Germany is very pressing. The major problem that Germany should be worried about is the problem of aging. The population fall might not be that a big problem as Germany is already very highly populated. The efforts put in by the German government are not helping the situation to a great extent. Therefore, it must try to solve this problem by using more strategies. The German government can start providing matchmaking services which will help it solve the problem or low birth rate. Like Spain, it can also award families a certain amount for each baby produced. (Foreign Policy, 2007) References 1. Central Intelligence Agency. (2008). The World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency. Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 2. Deutsche Welle-World (2005). Encouraging Germans to Have More Kids. DW-World. Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 3. Federal Statistic Office (2008). Destatis. Available From: [Accessed June 14 2008] 4. Foreign Policies (2007). The List: Five Population Trends to Watch. Foreign Policies. Available from: < http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.phpstory_id=3981 > [Accessed June 14 2008] 5. Gudrun Schultz (2006). German Population Plunge "Irreversible," Federal Stats Office Admits. Life Site News. Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 6. Life Site News (2004). Most Major Industrial Countries Unprepared for Coming Population Ageing Crisis and Labor Shortage. Life Site News. Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 7. Population Reference Bureau (2008) PRB Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 8. United Nations Population Fund. (2006). State of World Population 2006. New York, NY: United Nations Population Fund. 9. Veysel Oezcan (2004). Germany: Immigration in Transition. Migration Information Source Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] 10. Work Permit (2006) Germany's population continues to decline. Work Permit. Available from: [Accessed June 14 2008] Read More