Management of Cultural & Demographic Issues (Edexcel A Level Geography)
Revision Note
Measures of Income
Rapid demographic and cultural change can lead to various economic and social issues in urban and rural areas, including:
Conflict and tension
Unwanted changes to the built environment e.g. gentrification and regeneration
Social exclusion
Increased pressure on services e.g. education and healthcare
Higher levels of deprivation and unemployment
Increased house prices
Issues in rural and urban places need to be managed carefully to achieve a positive outcome
A sequence of steps will be followed to enable the development of a suitable plan, which can be monitored, evaluated, and revised if necessary
IMAGE
A change management model
The success of management strategies used to reduce cultural and demographic issues can be assessed using economic measures of:
Income e.g. household income and percentage of people on minimum wage
Employment e.g. type of employment and unemployment rate
Different areas can then be compared by looking at the variations within each measure
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Both absolute and relative change can be used to measure differences in numerical data:
Absolute change considers the difference between the original number and the new one e.g. an actual increase or decrease in average income
Relative change considers by what percentage the number changed from the original number e.g. the percentage increase or decrease in average income
|
x 100 = Relative changeYou can compare absolute or relative changes between or within areas
Average per Capita Income in two Cities
| 2011 income | 2021 income | Absolute change | Relative change |
City A | £49,250 | £56,902 | £7,652 | +15.5% |
City B | £29,980 | £37,114 | £7,134 | +23.8% |
There is little difference in the absolute change in income between City A and City B
However, the relative change is 8.3% higher
Looking at absolute and relative change for different areas gives you a better picture of how places compare
Economic indicators can be analysed in combination with demographic indicators, such as age and ethnic diversity, to provide more information about a place
UK Working Age Unemployment by region and ethnicity (2016)
Region | White (%) | BAME (%) |
|---|---|---|
North East | 8.0 | 12.1 |
North West | 5.3 | 12.4 |
Yorkshire and Humberside | 5.7 | 13.6 |
East Midlands | 4.4 | 9.6 |
West Midlands | 5.1 | 13.2 |
East | 4.5 | 6.3 |
London | 4.5 | 10.2 |
South East | 4.3 | 6.3 |
South West | 4.2 | 8.0 |
Scotland | 5.7 | 11.5 |
Wales | 6.5 | 7.1 |
In the majority of regions, Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workers are twice as likely as white workers to be unemployed
This suggests that there are still levels of discrimination in areas across the UK
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Measuring the average income of internal and international migrants may show that migrants are economically successful, suggesting integration has been achieved. However, some migrants may still view themselves as outsiders despite their economic success.
Reduction of Inequalities
Social progress can be measured by:
Reductions in inequalities between areas and within them for different groups of people e.g. age and ethnicity
Improvements in the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) e.g. a reduction in health deprivation
Improvements in demographic changes e.g. life expectancy
Comparing two wards in Liverpool
Speke and Garston are situated next to each other in the south of Liverpool
Despite their proximity, social progress for the two wards is significantly different:
Social Indicators for Speke and Garston
Indicator (out of 64 wards) 1 = most deprived | Speke | Garston |
|---|---|---|
Overall ranking | 10 | 39 |
Life expectancy | 19 | 35 |
Education - Persistent absence (10% or more) | 23 | 40 |
Crime - domestic violence | 10 | 39 |
IMD | 11 | 32 |
The data shows spatial inequalities within Liverpool
There is evidence of social progress in Garston since it became a separate ward from Speke in 2022
Many independent shops are opening on the High Street, bringing the community together
Councillors are funding a Youth Team to help encourage children to be proud of their local area
Private investment (e.g. a new LIDL store) is reducing unemployment
Speke has experienced significant challenges due to deindustrialisation and high unemployment, however, there is some evidence of social progress:
The charity, Speke Training and Education Centre (STEC), houses over 20 charities, businesses and community organisations to help support the local community
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Remember that success can be subjective and that any social progress made may not benefit everyone living in an area.
Political Engagement
The success of cultural assimilation by immigrants (first, second and third generations) can be assessed using a range of quantitative data
Potential Measures for Assessing Cultural Assimilation
Type of issue | Possible measures |
|---|---|
Economic | Disparities in wage rates and salaries between immigrant and ethnic minorities, and white British workers |
Social | Are the incidences of hate crime and expressions of racism increasing or decreasing? What trends are seen in the IMD for different cultural groups? |
Demographic | Mapping changing residential distributions of different ethnic or immigrant groups to identify whether segregation is becoming less marked What is the incidence of mixed ethnic marriages? |
Cultural | The number of cultural features e.g. a tally of places of worship, different food cuisines and languages on leaflets |
Political | The degree to which members of minority groups are engaging in the political process What percentage of the electorate in those groups is voting at elections? How many adults in those groups are standing in local and national elections? The development of community groups |
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Assessing the management of cultural issues can be more challenging due to the subjective nature of these issues. For example, to what extent does a second-generation migrant feel they have assimilated into the community?
A questionnaire or interview would help you gather qualitative data for this question about assimilation.
Community engagement
There are variations in the level of community engagement, which can be measured through:
Local and national election turnout
The number of community activities
The number of supported local community groups
In the 2019 UK general elections, the election turnout was 67.3%
An estimated 9.4 million eligible voters (2019) in the UK are not registered to vote
BAME groups are some of the least likely to be on the electoral roll and therefore can’t vote
Only 52% of ethnic minority groups chose to vote, suggesting that:
Some of these individuals feel socially excluded from their community and have little influence
There are possible language barriers due to lower levels of assimilation
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Find out what the local and general election turnouts are for your two contrasting places
The development of community groups by minorities is a strong indicator of community engagement as it shows they feel invested in the place
Local charities fundraising to help vulnerable people in the local community
For example, STEC helped a refugee family from Afghanistan integrate into Liverpool life with English language lessons
Residents of an estate may form a group due to growing inequalities or social issues e.g. to reduce racism
A low level of segregation within a community indicates that people have started to integrate with other groups
Hate crimes and racism
A reduction in the number of reported racist attacks towards ethnic minority groups and religions indicates that people have assimilated into the community
Amount of Reported Hate Crimes (Race)
Data | Liverpool | Shetland |
|---|---|---|
Population who identify as non-white (%) | 16 | 3 |
Reported hate crimes (race) per 100,000 people | 231 | 4 |
The hate crime data suggests that ethnic minority groups are more likely to be victims of racism in Liverpool than in Shetland
Worked Example
Explain different ways of measuring the success of the management of cultural and demographic issues
[6 marks]
Identify ways that issues can be managed and then include ideas on how success could be measured, such as:
Comparing the pay of different people from different ethnicities
Questionnaires about perceptions of racism
Voting statistics
A balance between cultural and demographic issues is not necessary
To measure the success of management plans, first, the issues need to be identified and measured. Demographic issues might include access to health and education services. Health indicators from the Index of Multiple Deprivation could be used to assess whether there are health disparities between different groups of people in the community (e.g. age, wealth or ethnicity). Once the plan is implemented, the most recent IMD (published every 3-4 years) could be analysed to see whether there has been any improvement in health and a reduction in the inequality of life expectancy between groups. For example, after COVID-19, life expectancy dropped in Liverpool, with the poorest areas experiencing a drop of 5.3 years, while some of the richest wards experienced a slight increase.
The management of cultural issues can be more difficult to measure due to the subjective nature of some of these issues, such as the degree to which migrants have assimilated into the community. Again, a change management plan would be designed, with the identification of issues and what strategies are needed to overcome them. Police reports could be used to identify the level of hate crimes and racist abuse, at the time of implementation. These monthly reports could be used to assess whether strategies, such as improving migrants’ levels of English, are effective in reducing hate crimes and increasing assimilation.
You've read 0 of your 5 free revision notes this week
Sign up now. It’s free!
Did this page help you?