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DEMOGRAPHY

Study of Human Population, Fifth Edition

Chapter 4: Age and Sex Structure

Exercise 1

Table E4-1 presents age frequency distributions for the 2030 population of India for men, women, and for both sexes together. Using these data, complete exercises a, b, and c by filling in the cells in the India column of Table E4-2. We have computed the statistics for Japan’s population as a comparison.

  1. a. Compute the percentages of both sexes combined under fifteen years of age, fifteen through sixty-four, and sixty-five years and over. Round the percentages to two decimal places and enter these percentages in the spaces provided in Table E4-2.
  2. b. Compute the sex ratios for each of the three age categories, round to two decimal places, and enter in the spaces provided in Table E4-2. The formula for the sex ratio is:
    Men Women
    × 100
  3. c. Compute the age-dependency ratio for both sexes together, round to one decimal place, and enter in the space provided in Table E4-2. The formula for the age-dependency ratio is:
    P0–14 + P65+ P15–64
    × 100
  4. d. Describe how the two populations differ in terms of their dependency and sex ratios.
Table E4.1
Table E4.2

Exercise 2

Table E4-3 classifies the projected population of India for 2050 by age and sex. Construct a population pyramid from these data, taking the following steps:

  1. a. In the columns provided, enter the missing percentages. Remember that these percentages have as their denominators the total population of both sexes.
  2. b. On Figure E4-1, draw a population pyramid, using the percentages in columns 3 and 4. Shade the area within the pyramid. Alternatively, you can construct the pyramid in a spreadsheet by modifying a stacked bar chart as follows: Statology Guide.
Table E4.3
Figure E4.1

Exercise 3

a. Describe the shape of the Indian population pyramid. What can you say about the Indian population’s recent history from looking at its shape?
b. If fertility had remained higher from 2020 to 2050, the average age of the population would have been:
  • ______ younger
  • ______ older
  • ______ the same
c. If mortality had declined to even lower levels and in equal proportion at all ages, the average age of the population would have been:
  • ______ younger
  • ______ older
  • ______ the same

Exercise 4

Practice constructing age-sex-specific rates for death. Table E4-4 presents the data for U.S. women in 2024. For each age category, column 1 tells how many women of that age died in 2024, column 2 tells the estimated number of total women of that age, and column 3 tells the age-sex-specific death rate (per thousand women). Thus, to get the death rate for the under age 1 row, the 9,035 deaths were divided by the 1,800,246 girl babies born in that year and then multiplied by 1,000, producing a death rate of 5.02 deaths per thousand girls under 1. Compute rates for the rows where rates have been omitted. (Refer to Box 4-2 for an explanation of age-sex-specific rates.)

  1. a. Why are deaths rates higher in the age 0–1 category than in the age categories that follow it?
  2. b. How might these rates look different if they were for men instead of women?
Table E4.4

Figures & Tables

Figure 4.1
Figure 4.1
Figure 4.2
Figure 4.2
Figure 4.3
Figure 4.3
Figure 4.4
Figure 4.4
Figure 4.5
Figure 4.5
Figure 4.6
Figure 4.6
Figure 4.7
Figure 4.7
Figure 4.8
Figure 4.8
Figure 4.9
Figure 4.9
Table 4.1
Table 4.1
Table 4.2
Table 4.2
Table 4.3
Table 4.3
Table 4.4
Table 4.4