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• Author: Polzin, Paul E.
• Position: Statistical Data Included

Different Demographics Lead to Different Discussions

Demographics have influenced a host of important issues and topics in the United States. If the U.S. population were different demographically, would the issues Americans face also be different? To explore the answer to this question, we will compare demographic conditions in the United States to conditions in other parts of the world. Then we will narrow our scope and look specifically at the different demographic conditions within the state of Montana.

Characteristics of Advanced Countries

Most advanced countries in the world are facing problems associated with an aging population. In fact, the United States may be slightly better off because it has more young people due to recent immigration (Figure 1).

Japan, for example, has a smaller percentage of its population in the younger age categories and a larger percentage in the older age categories. Japan's postwar baby crop peaks about 10 years earlier than America's, and its Gen Xers are also a couple of years ahead. As a result, Japan will experience whatever aging problems the United States is going to have, but sooner and worse.

Germany's age breakdown is similar to that of the United States and Japan, with a few minor differences. Germany experienced two baby boom periods--one before World War II and one after the war with the second boom peaking a couple of years later than the U.S. boom. Overall, Germany has fewer young people and more old than America.

Most of the other advanced countries have age distributions similar to that of the United States and are facing some of the same issues related to aging. Among the advanced countries, the United States is probably in relatively good shape. Recent immigration has resulted in relatively more people in the younger age category.

The Rest of the World

So far, only the populations of advanced countries have been discussed: the United States, about 270 million; Western Europe, about 300 million; Japan, about 130 million; and about another 70 million in other advanced countries like Canada and Australia. That totals about 770 million of the world's 6 billion people; the advanced countries represent only 13 percent of the world's population. In other words, nearly 87 percent of the world's population lives outside the advanced countries.

What does the population look like in underdeveloped countries? It is important not to generalize; it varies from country to country.

Consider China, the...