Demography is the study of the size, growth, and age and geographical distribution of human populations, including births, deaths, marriages, and migrations.
In addition to the basic data on these specific characteristics of populations, demographic analysis also requires a clear, valid and useful division of a country into sub-areas. In the case of England and Wales, this is now provided by the new rural definition and the classification of local authorities. These go beyond the simple urban-rural dichotomy of previous definitions to identify different types of rural and urban settlements.
Population ChangeThere are five main 'drivers' of population change currently affecting the population of rural England and determining its structure in the future:
- increasing life expectancy and falling fertility across the population nationally,
- the trend of 'counter-urbanisation' whereby, over the last four decades, net population exodus from the countryside has been replaced by in-migration from urban areas,
- an exodus of young adults to (mainly urban) universities and better paid jobs in the cities,
- some localized evidence that rural areas are now beginning to be affected by net migration from overseas, and
- the impact of the ‘baby boom’ of the 1950s on the present age structure which is now producing more retirement migration to the countryside.
(Tony Champion and John Shepherd, 'Demographic Change in Rural England', chapter 2 in P Lowe and L Speakman (eds) The Ageing Countryside, The Growing Older Population of Rural England, London, Age Concern England, 2006).
