Population and Employment

Economic, Social and Politcal Influences on Population

Economic

• Some of the biggest growth regions in the UK, have grown as a result of the excellent economic conditions.
• A poorly developed economy is often unable to support large populations and people end up living in poor housing (e.g. Brazil).

Social

• Areas will have a high population density if they are located close to good communications links.
• If links between cities and towns are poor, then areas will have a low population density.
• Access to resources is also vital to the density of a population as people will locate in areas where they have access to the appropriate resources.
• People will also often locate in an area where the culture is not to different from their own, as language barriers are often something which people are keen to avoid.

Political

• Areas that receive a large level of investment often have high population densities.
• Rural areas often have very little investment and therefore become run down and have low population densities.

Physical Influences on the Distribution of Population

Relief

• In areas of high population density, the land is often flat and low lying which encourages settlement development.
• Land like this is easier to build on and goods are easier to transport. In areas of low population density, the land is often rugged, steep and high above sea level.
• It is often extremely difficult to settle in areas of this style.

Climate

• A climate which is not too extreme in either direction often encourages the greatest settlement growth.
• In areas of low population density, the climate is often either far too cold (e.g. Antarctica) or far too hot (e.g. Sahara Desert).

Vegetation

• If the vegetation is low lying; it is easy to remove so encourages settlement.
• In areas of dense vegetation (e.g. the Amazon Rainforest) it is often difficult to settle.

Water

• Access to a fresh supply of water is vital for determining the density of an areas population.
• Where the water supply is good, high population densities will be found.
• Where the water supply is poor, low population densities will be found.

Soils

• If the soil is rich and fertile; the population density is often high as people are able to yield good crops.
• If the soil is thin and unproductive, few people will want to live here

Employment and Unemployment

There are a number of types of unemployment:

Structural unemployment:

• This occurs when the economy changes and industries die out
• Training is needed to give the unemployed workers new skills

Cyclical unemployment:

• This is caused by the business cycle

Frictional unemployment:

• This is caused when people are temporarily out of work as they are moving jobs

Mobility of Labour

Supply curve for labour slopes upwards – at higher wage rates more people will work. How many more people make themselves available at higher wage rates is influenced by elasticity of demand for labour

Monetary Influences on Labour

• Financial:
  • - Wage rates – the higher these are generally the greater the supply of labour
  • - Overtime – if overtime is available it helps to increase supply
  • - Wage rates in substitute jobs – if wage rates are higher than in substitute jobs more labour tends to be supplied
• Barriers to entry – these can lead to a higher wage rate being paid
• Opportunity cost of working

Non-Monetary Influences on Labour

• Increased mobility of labour – this could be occupational or geographical
• Net labour migration – this is an increasing factor with more countries joining the EU and migrating to the UK to find jobs
• Non monetary characteristics of jobs – these include factors that influence motivation such as working in a team, training and autonomy, employee benefits e.g. free gym membership, canteens on site and job security

Labour Supply of Specific Jobs

The elasticity of the supply of labour for different occupations depends on a number of factors:

• Occupations where workers are highly specialised and have to undergo extensive training such as medicine and law are likely to have inelastic supply
• Occupations where there are pools of labour with the skills and abilities to do the job tend to have elastic supply such as cleaners and assembly line workers