AGE STRUCTURE SIMLAB

LAB DESCRIPTION

As economic conditions, medical care, the use of birth control and other factors change over time the rate of population growth (or decrease) is affected. The distribution of people's ages (and sexes) within a population reflects the birth rate and the life expectancies. This can be displayed as an age pyramid. In the age pyramid, a series of bars extend from the center of the pyramid. The length of each bar is proportional to the number of people in the population within a certain age group. Females are on one side of the pyramid and males on the other.

Several factors influence changes in population and the age structure of a country. You can control several of them in this simulation and observe the results. One of the most basic factors is the fertility of the average woman. The total fertility rate, the average total number of births per woman over her lifetime, can be set in the simulation.