Describe the population structure of this country.

Suggest one reason for the structure of the economically active population.

Explain three socio-economic impacts of an anti-natal policy in one named country.

Any two valid, distinct and descriptive points for [2 marks] plus [1 mark] for quantification/use of data from the x/horizontal axis. 

Possible descriptions include:

Few dependents; large economically active group; imbalanced gender ratio; 15–64 years old mainly male; youthful and elderly groups are more balanced. 

Comments on rates or life expectancy etc. are explanations as opposed to description and should not be credited.

Migrants coming into the country are overwhelmingly male [2 marks].

Award [1+1 marks] for each valid/distinct socio-economic impact, provided that it is developed by means of explanation and/or detail.

Possibilities can be positive or negative and may include (for example, using China’s One Child Policy):

Skewed sex ratio; no siblings or aunts or uncles; little emperor syndrome; aging population with only child having to support two parents and four grandparents; forced abortions. 

Estimate that policy prevented more than 300 million births; avoided Malthusian catastrophe; infant mortality fell; well educated population as families could afford schooling; may have helped contribute to China’s recent economic growth. 

If no valid country is named award a maximum of [4 marks]. 

Demographic or environmental comment must linked to socio-economic impact.

On the whole, there were strong responses referring to the size of age groups (dependent and economically active) and/or the gender imbalance. Many candidates forgot to back up description with data from the graph, which limited some strong responses to 2 marks maximum. A few candidates struggled to offer a description of the pyramid and focus too much of their response on explanation. These answers were self-limiting.

Mostly good answers with candidates recognizing that the structure reflected male immigration of workers. Other responses were less successful based on gender discrimination in the Middle East or that birth rates had changed or that women had emigrated.

The vast majority of candidates made use of China’s one-child policy although there were rare cases of others being used such as India or Singapore. Most candidates were able to give valid and distinct socio-economic impacts but were less successful in developing these with explanation and detail. Good responses referred to the impact of the one-child policy on gender imbalance, aging population, social issues such as marriage and “Little Emperors” and future problems of work force, attracting inward investment and looking after family 4-2-1.Some candidates ignored the numbers given in the booklet and answered in one paragraph and it was difficult to distinguish between the three separate impacts. There were some candidates who struggled to identify three distinct socio-economic impacts and in some cases the entire question was developed based on one impact such as gender imbalance or aging population. These were self limiting.