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POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN (Continued):Age Distribution, Sex Composition

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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
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Lesson 38
POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN (Continued)
Composition
In lecture 37 we looked at the size of population. Lecture 38 shall focus on the composition of population
of Pakistan as well as some implications of the Population Planning Program. In the composition of
population first of let us look at the age distribution of the people of Pakistan.
Age Distribution
According to 1998 Population Census of Pakistan, 43 percent of the population was of children under 15
years, 53 percent was between the ages of 15-64 years, and about 4 percent was 65 years and over (see fig.
1). This information shows that a big proportion of the population has been of children implying that they
are dependents on the economy of the country. About four percent of the population happens to be of old
persons, another group of dependents. About one half of the population is that of women, who, with the
exception of few, are usually considered as dependents. In this way the age structure of the population of
Pakistan shows that majority (nearly two thirds) of them are dependents. Of the dependents, children need
special services like health, education, playground, and family care. In this way the young population puts
special demand on the resources of the country. Similarly the senior citizens need special services.
Figure 1
< 15 yrs.
15-64 yrs.
65+ yrs
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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
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Sex Composition
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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
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Figurer 3
Population Pyramid of Pakistan - 1998
Population Pyramid of Pakistan 1998
Elderly 65 + Population
4.8%
Females in
Reproductive
Productive
53%
Age Group
age group 15-
64
22%
Child
Population
0-14
43%
Prior to the industrial revolution the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries also looked like those
of the present day developing countries. Just by looking at the population pyramid one could easily tell
whether this pyramid is that of a highly developed country, a developed country, or that of a developing
country (see fig. 4). As one can see from the figure, the base of the population pyramid of a developing
country is very broad indicating that the population has a large number of children. The population of such
countries has the potential of rapid growth. Sex ratio is in favor of males. Then there is a sharp tapering off
of the pyramid whereby it becomes conical. At the senior citizen's age the proportion of population is very
small.
Figure 4
Prior to the industrial revolution the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries also had similar shape
as that of Pakistan. Presently although the age and sex pyramids of the developed countries have quite a
different shape still they are being called pyramids.
A
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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
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As the countries move on the scale of development, its birth rates start falling and the base of the pyramid
does not remain broad and also it does not remain as steep as it was seen in case of developing countries.
The bars indicating the male and female distribution start becoming different. The bars indicating the
females start becoming longer than those of bars for males. Since the pyramid is no more conical, therefore
it indicates that the proportion of old persons in the population starts increasing. On the whole the
population of such countries shows slow growth rate.
Countries with zero population growth have a barrel shaped pyramid. Here different bars representing age
become almost equal except at the top for the senior citizen. The bars at each age for females are either
equal to the bars for males or these are longer than the bars for males.
There is also a pyramid showing "negative growth" of population. In this pyramid the base of the pyramid
is quite squeezed indicating that there are no children. This pyramid starts bulging out from the middle
suggesting some increase in adult population which is primarily due to immigrants entering the country to
fill the gap created by the declining fertility of the local population. This pyramid has become comparatively
broad at the top due to the increase in the number of old people. Countries with such population have
"aging" population.
The present age and sex pyramid of Pakistan shows high growth potential for population. With the future
socioeconomic developments it is expected there will be a decline in fertility. With this decline in fertility
the lower bars of the pyramid start getting shorter than what was in 1998. Also their length starts becoming
equal to each other. The bars on top of the pyramid representing the old people above 65 year start getting
bigger than the bars in the previous pyramid (see fig. 5).
Women in Reproductive Age ­ 42.36 million
Figure 5
62.79 million
Population Pyramids of Pakistan
Literacy Composition
Literacy
has
been
considered  to  be  a
crucial variable in the
development
of
a
Old Age 6.46 million
Old Age 6.46 million
country.
Pakistan
started with a very low
literacy rate.  In 1961
Women in
Women in
only 17 percent of the
Reproductive
Reproductive
Age ­ 28.8
Age 28.8
population aged 10 year
million
million
and above was literate.
There have been small
55.54
55.54
million
million
increases in the literacy
rates in the country.
Table 1 shows that at
the time of third population census (1972) there was small increase of 5 percentage points over the previous
population census of 1961 and an increase of small percentage points have been observed at the time of
every population census. During the year 2004 literacy rate in the country has been estimated to be at 54
percent.
Table 1: Literacy rate (%)
________________________________________________________________________
Year
Rate
Year
Rate_______
.
1961
17
1990
35
.
1972
22
1998
40
.
1981
26
2004
54
.
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Female literacy rates are much lower than the male population. Similarly literacy rates in the rural area are
lower than the urban areas. The literacy situation of the rural women appears to be the lowest.
Despite the fact that literacy rate has been increasing in Pakistan, it is interesting to note that the absolute
number of illiterates in the country has also been increasing. The information provided in table 2 shows that
in 1961 there were 22 million persons who were illiterate and by the year 2004 this number has increased to
69 million, which is a more than three times increase. During the same period, the literacy rate increased
from 17 percent to 54 percent, more than three times increase.  It might look ironical to have such a
scenario but this reality has emerged due to the rapid growth of population. The high growth rate of
population has been one of the important factors that neutralize the achievement of increase in literacy.
Table 2: Absolute number of illiterates (in million)
________________________________________________________________________
Year
No.
Year
No.
.
1961
22
1990
52
1972
33
1998
55
1981
42
2004
69
.
Distribution of Population
The distribution of population may be looked at from different dimensions: rural-urban distribution,
provincial distribution, distribution by different city size, etc. Rural-urban distribution, as seen in the figure
6, shows that as of 2004 every third person was living in cities. At the time of partition every fifth person
was living in cities. An increase in
urban population has mostly been due
to migration of rural population to
the urban areas.
Most of such
migrants come to cities in search of
job.
Figure 6
Urban Population
Implications of Population
Program
Given the scenario of population
growth  in  the  country,  the
government of Pakistan started population program about fifty years back. Over the years a good amount
of effort has gone into it for the creation of awareness about family planning, changing the attitudes of
couples in its favor, and motivating the couples for the adoption of family planning practices (the use of
contraceptives). As an outcome of government investments as well as through the efforts of NGOs some
of the parameters of population are given in table 3. The data show that there has been progress on three
important parameters of knowledge about family planning, the use of contraceptives, and fertility rate. It
has been found that as of 2004 there were 96 percent couples who were in the know-of family planning but
only a little over one third were using some family planning method (contraceptive). There appears to be a
big gap between the knowledge about family planning and the practicing of family planning. It has been
found that the fertility rate (the total number of children born to a woman during her life time) has declined
for example from 5.4 children per woman in 1991, to 4.9 in 1997, to 4.1 children in 2004.
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Table 3: Population parameters (1991 to 2004)
______________________________________________________________________
Parameter
1991
1997
2004
.
Knowledge (%)
78
94
96
Use of Contraceptives  12
24
34
Fertility rate
5.4
4.9
4.1
.
Looking at the world situation, the information provided in table 4 shows that the population growth rate
(PGR) of the world in 2002 was 1.3 percent, and the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) of 61 percent. In
the more developed regions of the world the PGR was 0.1 and CPR 68 percent whereas in the less
developed regions the corresponding PGR was 1.6 and CPR was 60 percent. Asian figures show a PGR of
1.3 percent and CPR of 64. Comparing with this situation it looks that Pakistan has yet to cover long
distance to come closer to the average figures of Asia or of less developed regions, what to think about the
figures of more developed regions.
Table 4: Population Growth Rate (PGR) and Contraceptive Prevalence Rate
(CPR) 2002
________________________________________________________________________
Regions
PGR (%)
CPR (%)
.
World
1.3
61
More Developed
0.1
68
Less Developed
1.6
60
Asia
1.3
64
.
Comparing Pakistan with some of the Muslim countries, the information provided in table 5 shows that
Pakistan is way behind Iran, Turkey, Morocco, Indonesia, Egypt and Bangladesh on the counts of CPR,
PGR, and TFR. A program which is well accepted in some other Muslim countries, why it is not that much
accepted in Pakistan? We have to explore the reasons for such differences.
Table 5: PGR, CPR, and Total Fertility Rate (TFR), 2002
_____________________________________________________________________
Muslim countries
TFR(%)
PGR(%)
CPR(%) .
Egypt
3.5
2.0
56
Morocco
3.1
1.9
58
Turkey
2.5
1.5
64
Iran
2.5
1.2
74
Indonesia
2.6
1.6
57
Bangladesh
3.3
1.7
55
Pakistan (2004)
4.1
1.9
37
.
Keeping in view the existing parameters of population program the population projections made by the
government suggest that the population of
Pakistan is going to increase from 148.6
million in 2003 to 167.7 million in 2010,
and to 195.5 million in 2020 (see fig. 7).
Also 2020 is the year when Pakistan is
expected to have population stabilization.
We shall discuss this concept of population
stabilization later.  It has been further
projected that the population of Pakistan is
going to double by the year 2040.
Figure 7
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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
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Table of Contents:
  1. THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY:Auguste Comte, The Fields of Sociology
  2. THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE:Society affects what we do
  3. THEORETICAL PARADIGMS:Salient Paradigms, Critical Evaluation
  4. SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE:Empirical, Verifiable, Cumulative, Self-Correcting
  5. STEPS IN SOCIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION:Exploration/Consultation
  6. SOCIAL INTERACTION:Social Status, ROLE, The Social Construction of Reality
  7. SOCIAL GROUPS:Primary and Secondary Groups, Reference Group, Networks
  8. ORGANIZATIONS:Utilitarian Organizations, Coercive Organizations
  9. CULTURE:Universality, Components of Culture, Symbols, Language
  10. CULTURE (continued):Beliefs, Norms, Cultural Diversity
  11. CULTURE (continued):Culture by social class, Multiculturalism, Cultural Lag
  12. SOCIALIZATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, NATURE, Social Isolation
  13. UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS
  14. AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION:The Family, The School, Peer Groups, The Mass Media
  15. SOCIALIZATION AND THE LIFE COURSE:CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE
  16. SOCIAL CONTROL AND DEVIANCE:Crime, Deviants, Stigma, Labeling
  17. THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEVIANCE:Cultural relativity of deviance
  18. EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME:Sociological explanations
  19. EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME -- CONTINUED:White-Collar Crime, Conflict Theory
  20. SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME: EXPLANATIONS, Gender and Crime
  21. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: INTRODUCTION AND SIGNIFICANCE
  22. THEORIES OF CLASS AND STRATIFICATION – I:Critical evaluation
  23. THEORIES OF SOCIAL CLASS AND STRATIFICATION – II
  24. THEORIES OF CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION – III
  25. SOCIAL CLASS AS SUBCULTURE
  26. SOCIAL MOBILITY:Structural factors, Individual factors, Costs
  27. THE FAMILY: GLOBAL VARIETY, Marriage Patterns, Patterns of Descent
  28. FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY:Reproduction, Social placement
  29. FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN TRANSITION:Family is losing functions
  30. GENDER: A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, Gender socialization
  31. GENDER SOCIALIZATION:Role of family, Gender Stratification
  32. EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY:Conflict Explanations, Feminism
  33. FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOLING:Cultural Innovation, School Tracking
  34. ISSUES IN EDUCATION:Low Enrollment, High Dropout, Gender Disparity
  35. POPULATION STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE:Crude Birth Rate
  36. THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH:Theory of Demographic Transition
  37. POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN:World Population Growth
  38. POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN (Continued):Age Distribution, Sex Composition
  39. IMPLICAIONS OF POPULATION GOWTH:Additional GDP needed per year
  40. POPULATION POLICY:Goals of Population Policy, Objectives, Strategies
  41. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY:Global Dimension, Historical Dimension
  42. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:Preserving Clean Water, Clearing the Air
  43. SOCIAL CHANGE:Social change is controversial.
  44. CAUSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE:Culture and Change, Conflict and Change, Modernization
  45. MODERNITY AND POST MODERNITY:Cultural Patterns, Post-modernity