Representation of Industrialized Population Growth

After the Industrial Revolution, the world's population growth rate increased significantly, and the whole showed a transitional type of population growth with a higher birth rate, a lower death rate and a higher growth rate. The main reason for this is that the Industrial Revolution greatly increased productivity, improved the living environment of human beings, and raised the standard of medical care.

The specifics of demographic change during the Industrial Revolution

During a short period in the early years of industrialization, the birth rate rose in some parts of Europe, with the United Kingdom being a typical example. The reasons for the rise in birth rates were complex and varied from region to region. One of the main reasons was that economic growth had lowered the age of marriage, making it easier for people to have more children. In addition, urban areas once held the same beliefs as rural areas about the importance of children as labor.

From the second half of the 19th century, the birth rate gradually declined. In the 20th century, the European birth rate continued to fall, to the point where it was dwarfed by the death rate. The reasons for the decline in the birth rate can be attributed to the following: ① It was due to the desire to limit family size, rather than caused by birth limiting contraceptive methods (which were not used until the 20th century). ② The decline in infant mortality has led to a decline in the birth rate. This is because in areas with high mortality rates, many children must be born to ensure that some survive. ③ Economic factors are also closely related to the decline in the birth rate. In an urbanized, industrialized society, child labor is prohibited and thus children are more of a burden than a possession. Therefore, with the legalization and urbanization of modern society, the birth rate tends to decline. ④ Urbanization has also changed people's attitudes, especially the traditional village concept of the extended family has also been weakened with the spread of culture. In particular, fundamental changes in attitudes towards the family, improvement in the social status of women and the ease and feasibility of birth control have contributed to the decline in the birth rate.

The reasons for the continuing decline in the birth rate into the twentieth century are the effectiveness of family planning and birth control, the increased opportunities for women's advancement, and, in some countries with high rates of divorce, skepticism about the stability of the traditional family system. Modern people's schooling, training, employment and romantic careers take up more time and relatively delay reproductive behavior. In addition, the cost of raising a baby to adulthood and completing higher education in the modern world discourages people from having more children.

In the 15th century, before the Industrial Revolution, the world's population growth had already begun to accelerate. According to statistics, the world's population grew by 28.2 percent, 11.9 percent, 47.5 percent and 80.6 percent in the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, respectively. It can be seen that from the industrial revolution in the second half of the 18th century, the world's population growth increased significantly.

And the population growth and natural variability have diverged between developed and developing regions. Take the natural variation of the world population between 1750 and 1940 as an example: the mortality rate of the population in the developed regions continued to decline from 34 per thousand in 1750 to 14 per thousand in 1940, and the birth rate declined from the level of 38 per thousand to 39 per thousand to 22 per thousand. The mortality rate in the developing regions was still as high as 36 per thousand to 38 per thousand around 1900, and began to decline only after 1920, falling below 30 per thousand by 1940; the birth rate during the same period was always as high as 40 per thousand to 41 per thousand. The process of natural population change in developed and developing regions from the Industrial Revolution until 1940 is shown in the figure below. Developed regions tend to decline in both the birth rate and mortality rate, developing regions in the late mortality rate began to decline, but the birth rate remains high.