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  • 标题:Population Change in Canada.
  • 作者:Kovacs, Zoltan B.
  • 期刊名称:Canadian Ethnic Studies Journal
  • 印刷版ISSN:0008-3496
  • 出版年度:2004
  • 期号:June
  • 语种:English
  • 出版社:Canadian Ethnic Studies Association
  • 摘要:Population Change in Canada is a comprehensive demographic study of Canada from the pre-Confederation period to the present. The book is divided into three parts: "The Population Processes"; "Growth, Distribution, and Aging"; and "Consequences of Population Change." The main thesis of the authors is to "[t]ake a systematic look at population change in Canada. This includes interpreting past change and anticipating possible future changes and their implications" (p. 4). Moreover, each part presents itself with its own issues.
  • 关键词:Books

Population Change in Canada.


Kovacs, Zoltan B.


Population Change in Canada, 2nd ed. Roderic Beaujot and Don Kerr. Oxford University Press, 2004. 367 pp. $59.70 sc.

Population Change in Canada is a comprehensive demographic study of Canada from the pre-Confederation period to the present. The book is divided into three parts: "The Population Processes"; "Growth, Distribution, and Aging"; and "Consequences of Population Change." The main thesis of the authors is to "[t]ake a systematic look at population change in Canada. This includes interpreting past change and anticipating possible future changes and their implications" (p. 4). Moreover, each part presents itself with its own issues.

According to Beaujot and Kerr, the three components of population change are mortality, fertility, and immigration. In regard to mortality, there have been significant increases in life expectancy in Canada within the past 140 years. Moreover, "[t]he major causes of death have changed from infectious diseases to degenerative diseases that mostly affect the older population" (p. 45). The most prevalent causes of death today are cardiovascular disease and cancer. The authors also note that one has to look at risk factors and treatment factors when studying mortality. While it is evident that the latter has made significant progress, the former plays an equal, if not more important, role in the explanation of mortality. Individual behaviors such as lifestyle, diet, and risk-taking affect mortality. Socio-economic conditions also have a direct effect on mortality, as does one's gender, age, and marital status. As deaths are occurring later in the life cycle, Canada's aging population is facing increased health care costs, and the government is facing choices regarding whether to focus on curative or preventative approaches. Beaujot and Kerr note that since neither approach necessarily reduces costs, perhaps there should be a shift to spend more money on non-fatal, debilitating diseases than on prolonging death due to chronic diseases because "longer life does not translate directly into better health ..." (p. 62). The obvious ethical issue is how to minimize one's disability before death. In other words, should mortality be controlled as fertility is?

Fertility patterns have generally followed mortality patterns. One can explain "variations in fertility ... in relation to three sets of factors: the proximate factors (especially union formation and use of contraceptives), the micro-level determinants (especially the value and cost of children to their parents), and society-level factors (particularly the organization of paid and unpaid work)" (p. 73). The authors assert that these proximate factors have shaped our identities and altered our relationships. Although fertility rates remain relatively stable, women still share the heavier burden in unpaid work, and their opportunity costs are higher than men's. The solution lies in changing the structures of both unpaid and paid work. As Beaujot and Kerr state, "both production and reproduction are obviously important to the long-term welfare of the society. At issue is the division of our time between production and reproduction ..." (p. 93).

Among the population processes, "the most explicit attempts to influence population trends have occurred in the area of international migration" (p. 95). Approximately 60 percent of Canada's foreign-born population reside in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Consequently, these metropolitan areas are experiencing the greatest demographic, political, and economic growth. Subsequently, these net migration patterns lead to regional disparities. The most salient theme is to adopt policies that reduce economic inequalities between the regions. However, "there is a basic conflict between attaining overall economic efficiency and achieving regional development" (p. 151). There is a negation between maximizing the individual and maximizing community welfare.

Nevertheless, Beaujot and Kerr acknowledge the consequences of immigration to be increased diversity, growth of visible minorities, and the changing linguistic distribution in favor of English (at the expense of French). While there are socioeconomic differences between immigrants and non-immigrants and between visible minority groups, the most disadvantaged of Canada's citizens are its Aboriginal peoples. They still have noticeably higher mortality rates (both in births and deaths), and they are significantly more likely to report chronic health problems than the rest of the population. Trovato attributes these causes to the "geographic, socioeconomic and even social psychological marginalization of many Aboriginal communities" (p. 272). As immigration levels increase in the future, so will the use of "heritage languages." This, as the authors note, will result in a decline in the use of the French language. "The official languages are growing where they are in the majority ... and are decreasing where they are in the minority" (p. 238).

In terms of the size and growth patterns of Canada's population, the authors distinctly state that "there is no demographic solution to aging. The aging of the population cannot be prevented by replacement migration" (p. 169). As the fastest growth in Canada's population is among those aged eighty and above, this will unavoidably put strains on health and pension plans. Either contributions will have to increase or benefits will have to decrease both economically and politically sensitive propositions.

Population Change in Canada is a primary textbook highly recommended for undergraduate students interested in Canada's demography. However, the book can also be used as a quick reference guide for demographers in need of particular statistical data.

Zoltan B. Kovacs

Department of Sociology

University of Alberta

Email: [email protected]
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