Population Census

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Welcome to class! 

In today’s class, we will be talking about the population census. Enjoy the class!

Population Census

Population Census- may be defined as a systematic enumeration of all nationals of a country at a given period irrespective of the person’s nature. Census is usually carried out once in every ten (10) years as in the case with Nigeria. The last and the most recent census was held in the year 2006, March 21 – 25. Therefore, the population of a country will include the nationals living in the country excluding the non-nationals (foreigners) living in the country plus nationals living in other countries.

Forms of population census

Two basic forms or method or approaches is adopted in counting the number of people (census) in any country. They are:

1. De-Facto Method: this is the method of counting people who are physically present wherever they can be found
2. De-Jure Method: This is a method in which persons who are regular residents in a particular place are counted. This method counts people in proxy that is the head of each family or whoever is available will enumerate and provide information on members of the family. This is not an ideal method of population census.

Evaluation

1. Define population census.
2. Explain the two types of population census.

Importance of population census

1. Census is used to determine the size and rate of growth of the population.
2. It enables the government to obtain an adequate basis for economic planning and policies
3. It is used to determine the per capita income (PCI) of a country vis-a-vis the standard of living.
4. It provides relevant data for the distribution of a country’s resources. (Revenue allocation)
5. It influences the magnitude of the flow of grants, aids and investments into a country.
6. It forms the basis for the importation of goods and services.
7. It helps demographer to determine the future forecast.
8. Within each country, the census is used to distribute parliamentary seats i.e. for political use.

Problems of conducting a census in Nigeria (West Africa)

1. The high cost of conducting a census
2. Shortage of trained census personnel (manpower)
3. Poor and inadequate infrastructure preventing accessibility
4. Prohibitive customary and religious beliefs
5. High degree of illiteracy
6. Bad town Planning
7. Economic benefits and political problems
8. Superstition i.e. ill-luck to the family by counting their children

Evaluation

1. What are the problems of conducting a census in Nigeria?
2. List five importance of conducting population census.

Population distribution

Population distribution is how the population of a country is distributed into different categories such as

• Age
• Sex
• Occupation and
• Geographical.

Age distribution:

This is the number of persons in different age groups in the population. In other words, it shows the number of people in different age groups e.g. 0-5, 6-10, 11-15 etc.

However, for some analysis, such as the labour force, the population is broken into:

1. 0 -15 years: the dependent population
2. 16 – 60 years: the working population or labour force
3. Above 60 years: the dependent population

The first group is made up of infants, 0-15 years. This group is unproductive and they depend on the working population for survival.

The second group 16 – 60 years (which may be extended or reduced by different countries) is the most productive and it supports the first and the last groups. It is the working population or the labour force. The last group 60 years and above is made up of men and women who are no longer economically productive but are dependent on the working population.

The age division varies among countries but whatever the variation; the dependent and the working population should be easily differentiated.

Sex (gender) distribution:

Sex distribution shows the relative proportion of males and females within a given population. The sex ratio is used to indicate the sex distribution which is defined as the number of male in the population per 1000 females.

If there are more women than men in the population, a higher birth rate should be expected. The size of the labour force will be equally affected.

In some African countries, women by customs are not allowed to work and this practice would affect the labour force.

Evaluation

Write a short note on

1. Age distribution.
2. Sex distribution.

Occupational distribution:

This refers to the division or spread of a working population into the types of job or occupation they do. This distribution is affected by the available natural resources, level of education and technological development.

Geographical distribution:

This refers to how people are spread over a given geographical area in terms of where they live. This is necessary because there is more concentration in some area and less in others, that is high and low population density. This situation arises due to several factors such as;

• The Climate
• Employment opportunity
• Nature of soil
• Social and historical factors

Dependency ratio:

This is the ratio of the dependent population simply called dependants to the working population. If the number of dependents is higher than the labour factor, then the ratio will be high and vice-versa. That is to say, the standard of living of the workers will be low since they have to spend much money to cater for those unproductive age groups. The dependency ratio is represented by this formula

Dependency ration = Total Dependent Population / Total Working Population

Worked Example

Find the dependency ration from the table given below:

Age Group                                                 POPULATION (000)

0 -16                                                                          16

17 – 35                                                                       22

36 – 60                                                                       43

Above 60                                                                   14

 Solution

Dependent Population    = 16 + 14 (000) = 30,000 people

Working Population          = 22 + 43 (000) = 65,000 People

Dependency Ration = 30,000/65,000   = 6/13   = 6: 13

Evaluation

1. Define population density.
2. State the formula for calculating the dependent ratio.

Reading assignment

1. Amplified and Simplified Economics for SSS by Femi Longe pages 182-190
2. Comprehensive Economics for SSS By. J.U. Anyaele chapter 10 pages 74 – 76
3. New Approach Economics by K.U. Nnadi and A.B. Falodun  chapter 6 page 64 – 66

General evaluation

1. Distinguish between money cost and opportunity cost.
2. What form of business enterprises would you recommend for a tailor?
3. What factors limit indigenous firms in West Africa?
4. Why do the Government conduct population census?
5. Describe four merits of the public corporation.
6. Explain the major importance of population census to a nation.
7. What are the major problems of conducting population census

 

In our next class, we will be talking about Population Density.  We hope you enjoyed the class.

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