7 Billion

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I grow every day, but I cannot be farmed.

I am important to humanity, but have only recently been studied.

I increase where there is poverty, and decrease where there is plenty.

Some people think I should be controlled, but no one knows how.

What am I?

Look at the words about population and decide where they go in the sentences:

sparsely populated                  rural-to-urban        refugees       population       explosion

densely populated    birth rate     death rate     density     migrants

1. Some of the more __________ regions of the world are found in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, the Arctic Circle, the Sahara, the Himalayan region of Asia, Iceland, Northwest Africa, the Outback of Australia, and Mongolia.
2. __________ migration is a well-observed phenomenon in China.
3. Japan's population has declined every year since 2007. And while other countries have countered declining _________ by permitting immigration, Japan has been slow to allow foreigners to settle there.
4. China and India both see more than 25,000 total deaths per day, due to their large populations. But the highest __________ is in South America, due to the unsatisfactory healthcare.
5. More than a million migrants and _____________ crossed into Europe in 2015, sparking a crisis as countries struggled to cope with the influx.
6. Some forecasters are estimating a worldwide _____________ from the current 6.6 billion people to 8 billion people by the year 2020 and to 9.4 billion by 2050.
7. The pay is enough to attract ___________ but unappealing to locals.
8. The area has a high population ____________.
9. Macao, Monaco, Singapore, Hong Kong and Gibraltar are the five most ______________countries.

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1 What's the main demographic problem in Japan nowadays?

It's population is declining, and there are a lot of of elderly people.

It's population is growing, and there are a lot of babies.

2 Why is it a good idea for some parents to move from Tokyo to a smaller city like Nagari yama?

It's safer for children as the traffic is lower, and people are friendlier.

It has a special daycare for children that other cities don't have.

3 What's the city's government's priority?

Providing daycare.

Creating a better infrastructure and more working space for adults.

4 What was Nagari yama like 2 decades ago?

It was a typical Japanese community abandoned by many young people.

It was a thriving economical centre with many plants and factories.

5 What solution related to transport did the mayor offer to the parents?

He offered a bicycle to every child over 12 years of age.

He set a transit service in a railway station.

6 What can you say about families in Nagari yama?

Every child has at least one sibling.

There are single parents with more than one child.

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What do phrases in bold mean?

1. It's made a world of difference.
2. There's a significant shortage of daycare centres across the country.
3. The neighbourhood is friendly and there are many local events in community spaces.
4. The city's innovative solutions lured in young working parents.
5. And now the city expects young children to outnumber the elderly people in the foreseeable future bucking a demographic trend in Japan.
6. Nagari yama is now experiencing a baby boom.

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Discuss:

Do you think the mayor made the right decision to create more childcare centres?
If the policy proves successful, and spreads around the country, how can it change life in Japan?
What do you know about age groups in your city? Do you see a lot of elderly people, children, young people? Which age group is the biggest?
What's the replacement rate in your country right now (one-to-one, two-to-one, one-to-two)?
What problems can arise from population being too old?

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Listen to Bob Dylan's protest song and fill in the gaps:

Blowin' in the wind

How many ... must a man walk down

Before you call him a man?

How many ... must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand?

Yes, 'n' how many ... must the cannon balls fly

Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, 'n' how many ... can a mountain exist

Before it is washed to the sea?

Yes, 'n' how many ... can some people exist

Before they're allowed to be free?

Yes, 'n' how many ... can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn't see ?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind

Yes, 'n' how many ... must a man look up

Before he can see the sky ?

Yes, 'n' how many ... must one man have

Before he can hear people cry?

Yes, 'n' how many ... will it take 'til he knows

That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind

The answer is blowin' in the wind

1. This is one of Bob Dylan's protest songs. Why is it called protest? What things is he against?
2. What lines show that we need more compassion?
3. The song was written in 1962. Do you think it's still accurate?
4. What are things that the singer tries to count? How are they related to the message of the song?
5. What effect does the repetition of 'how many' have on our ears? What mood does it create?
6. If the 'answer is blowing in the wind', what is the answer like?

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Do you think it's true?

• It takes about twenty years for a new generation to appear.
• What makes two generations different from one another is their taste for fashion and lifestyle.
• People born after wars are more plenty than those born in other years.
• Every new generation is more tech savvy than the previous one.

Millennials, baby boomers or Gen Z: Which one are you and what does it mean?

You’ve heard it all before: millennials are lazy, baby boomers are mega-rich and as for Generation Z, they see more of their phone screen than their own family.

But what do these different labels actually mean, and do any of the stereotypes attached to them contain any grains of truth?

Dr Alexis Abramson, an expert in what are known as ‘generational cohorts’, says we define generations because “when you are born affects your attitudes, your perceptions, your values, your behaviours.”

This means that each of them has their own characteristics. Let's take a look at them.

The Silent Generation

This is the first defined generational group. It refers to those born between 1926 and 1945, so these are people who lived through World War Two. The name comes from an article in Time magazine from the 1950s, and alludes to the fact that the children of this generation were taught to be seen and not heard. According to Dr Abramson, this group are:

• disciplined
• value-oriented and loyal
• interested in direct communication, so enjoy speaking in person as opposed to via technology

Baby Boomers

This is the only generation that’s been defined by an official government body: The US Census Bureau (which is part of the country’s Department for Commerce and is responsible for collecting data from across the US). They’re so named because of the huge surge of births after World War Two. The group starts in 1946 and ends with those born around 1964, when the birthrate began to decline again. Dr Abramson says boomers are:

• committed
• self-sufficient
• competitive

Generation X

The Resolution Foundation thinktank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980. They grew up in a time when technology was advancing fast, but it wasn’t nearly as readily available as it is today. Because of this, this generation straddles both the digital and non-digital world, and understands the importance of both. Dr Abramson says these people are:

• resourceful
• logical
• good problem-solvers

Millennials (Generation Y)

This is the cohort you’ve probably heard the most about. It’s not entirely certain where the generation starts and ends, but it’s approximately those born from 1980 to 1995. They’re often described as ‘lazy’ in the media and that they spend all the money they should be saving for a house on avocado toast, but they’re also the first generation to be “digital natives”, as Dr Abramson describes them. She thinks this makes them extremely self-sufficient, as they no longer have to rely on others to solve their problems or teach them things - they have the internet for that. Other defining characteristics include:

• confident
• curious
• questioning authority

Generation Z

There are a few conflicting ideas about where this generation starts. Pew Statistics says 1997, Statistics Canada says 1993, and the Resolution foundation says 2000. Wherever it really begins though, we can safely say this group is young, and has never known a life without tech. That might be why their alternative name (coined by American psychologist Dr Jean Twenge) is iGen. Some of their characteristics include:

• ambitious
• digital-natives
• confident

The next generation

And soon, new kids will be on the scene: the next generation has been dubbed Generation Alpha by social researcher Mark McCrindle. They are young (the first will have been born in 2010) but they will eventually become a very large cohort in their own right.

Whilst not specialising in this group, Dr Abramson predicts they’ll be family-oriented (as their parents will be Gen X and millennials, who she says are very engaged as parents) and more digitally savvy than any generation that comes before them. She also thinks this might be a generation where these labels start to lose some of their usefulness, adding:

“They are going into a whole new world where we’re not labelling as much - we’re not saying ‘they’re female and they’re male’, ‘they’re black and they’re white’,... it’s becoming more of an open society.”

1. What different generations are mentioned?
2. In what ways is each group different from the others?
3. Which group is called so because of a huge surge of births after a war?
4. Which generations are more tech savvy?
5. Which generation is described as lazy?
6. What are some predictions for the future generation?
7. Which characteristics of your generation do you agree with?

Match the synonyms:

cohort thinktank digitally savvy surge perception straddle questioning authority label coined

head group understanding computer geek increase combine rebel invented tag

1. Have you ever coined a word in your own or foreign language?
2. Have you ever questioned authority?
3. Have you ever managed to straddle two things?
4. Is your perception of yourself different from how other people perceive you?

Answer key

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