Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The demography of disadvantage

  • Published:
Journal of Population Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper discusses the contribution that demographers can make to the study of disadvantage. Demographers from Malthus onwards have been interested in analysing disadvantage through the lens of demographic variables, notably fertility, mortality and population growth, and their effect on poverty and welfare, both at an aggregate level and in terms of intra-household differences in well-being. The methodology of demography, including the concern with getting denominators right, cohort analysis and standardization procedures, can contribute to the analysis of disadvantage in many different ways. As examples, this paper highlights two issues: that of inequality of access to quality education, and the social and economic disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians. The goal of understanding the causes of disadvantage with a view to reducing it may be best served through multidisciplinary efforts, in which demographers should play a role.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abdollahyan, H. 2001. Conceptualizing gender gap in Iran. Paper presented at Canadian Sociological and Anthropological Association Congress, Quebec, 28 May–3 June.

  • Ahlburg, D.A. 2002. Does population matter? A review essay.Population and Development Review 28(2): 329–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 2001.The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Third Edition. Canberra.

  • Barro, R.J. 1997. Determinants of economic growth: a cross-country empirical study.Development Discussion Paper No. 579. Cambridge MA: Harvard Institute for International Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benavot, A. 1989. Education, gender and economic development: a cross national study.Sociology of Education 62(1): 14–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birrell, B., C. Mayer and V. Rapson. 1997. Welfare dependence in Australia.People and Place 5(2): 68–77.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birrell, B., V. Rapson, T.F. Smith, I.R. Dobson and D. Edwards. 2002.From Place to Place: School, Location and Access to University Education in Victoria. Melbourne: Monash University Centre for Population and Urban Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, J. 1997. The role of family planning programmes in contemporary fertility transitions. Pp. 422–443 in Gavin W. Joneset al. (eds.),The Continuing Demographic Transition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth, A. 2002. The changing role of non-farm activities in agricultural households in Indonesia: some insights from the agricultural censuses.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 38(2): 179–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broadhurst, R.G. and R.A. Maller. 1990. White man's magic makes black deaths in custody disappear.Australian Journal of Social Issues 25(4): 279–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cain, M. 1983. Fertility as an adjustment to risk.Population and Development Review 9(4): 688–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J.C. 1976. Toward a restatement of demographic transition theory.Population and Development Review 2(3 and 4): 321–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J.C. 1978. A theory of fertility: from high plateau to destabilization.Population and Development Review 4(4): 553–578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caldwell, J.C. 1980. Mass education as a determinant of the timing of fertility decline.Population and Development Review 6(2): 225–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carron, C. and T.N. Chau. 1996.The Quality of Primary Schools in Different Development Contexts. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castles, I. 1998. The mismeasurement of nations: a review essay on the Human Development Report 1998.Population and Development Review 24(4): 831–845.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castles, I. 2000. Reporting on human development: lies, damned lies and statistics. Pp. 55–82 in Ian Castles (ed.),Facts and Fancies of Human Development. Occasional Paper Series 1/2000. Canberra: Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavicchioni, V. 2002. The challenge of achieving gender parity in basic education: a statistical review 1990–1998. Paris: UNESCO. <http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001259/125927e.pdf>. Accessed 22 August 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, B. and C. Ryan. 2002. Income-contingent financing of student charges for higher education: assessing the Australian innovation.Welsh Journal of Education 11 (1): 64–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chowdhury, A. and I. Islam. 1993.The Newly Industrialising Economies of East Asia. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. 1994. Responding to custody levels: a greater community response to addressing the underlying causes.Key Issue Paper 6. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cummins, R.A. and H. Nistico. 2002. Maintaining life satisfaction: the role of positive cognitive bias.Journal of Happiness Studies 3(1): 37–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dollar, D. and A. Kraay. 2002. Spreading the wealth.Foreign Affairs 81(1): 120–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duru-Bellat, M. and A. Kieffer. 2001. The democratization of education in France: controversy over a topical issue.Population, An English Selection 13(2): 189–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R.A. 1981. Why isn't the whole world developed?Journal of Economic History 41(1): 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterlin, R.A. 1987.Birth and Fortune, 2nd Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Evans, M.D.R. and J. Kelley. 2002.Australian Economy and Society 2001: Education, Work and Welfare. Sydney: The Federation Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fincher, R. and P. Saunders (eds). 2001.Creating Unequal Futures. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fincher, R. and M. Wulff. 1998. The locations of poverty and disadvantage. In R. Fincher and J. Nieuwenhuysen (eds),Australian Poverty: Then and Now. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gertler, P. and O. Rahman. 1994. Social infrastructure and urban poverty. Pp. 127–194 in Ernesto M. Pernia (ed.),Urban Poverty in Asia: A Survey of Critical Issues. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, B. and P. Sheehan. 1998. Poverty and the collapse of full employment. Pp. 103–126 in R. Fincher and J. Nieuwenhuysen (eds),Australian Poverty: Then and Now. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, R.G. 1999. Children and the changing labour market: joblessness in families with dependent children. Paper presented to Conference on Labour Market Trends and Family Policies: Implications for Children, Canberra 14–15 July.

  • Headley, B., E. Holmstrom and A. Wearing. 1984. The impact of life events and changes in domain satisfaction on well-being.Social Indicators Research 15: 203–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, M. and J.G. Williamson. 1997. Age structure dynamics in Asia and dependence on foreign capital.Population and Development Review 23: 261–293.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. 1997.Bringing Them Home — Report of the National Enquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families. Sydney.

  • Hunter, B. 2001. Tackling poverty among Indigenous Australians. In Ruth Fincher and Peter Saunders (eds),Creating Unequal Futures? Rethinking Poverty, Inequality and Disadvantage. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Monetary Fund (IMF). 2001.World Economic Outlook, October.

  • Jejeebhoy, S. 1995.Women's Education, Autonomy and Reproductive Behaviour: Assessing What We Have Learned. Honolulu: Program on Population, East-West Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jencks, C.S. 1972. The Coleman Report and the conventional wisdom. In F. Mosteller and D.P. Moynihan (eds),On Equality of Educational Opportunity. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, G.W. 1989. Expansion of secondary and tertiary education in Southeast Asia: some implications.Journal of the Australian Population Association 6(1): 57–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, G.W. and P. Hagul. 1998. Schooling in Indonesia: crisis-related and longer-term issues.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 37(2): 207–231.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, G.W., L.N. Sumono and T. Handayani. 1998. Issues in the expansion of high school education in poor regions: the case of East Nusatenggara, Indonesia.Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 34(3): 59–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, A.C. 1991. The Human Development Index: handle with care.Population and Development Review 17(2): 315–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, A.C. and R.M. Schmidt. 2001. Economic and demographic change: a synthesis of models, findings, and perspectives. Pp. 67–105 in N. Birdsall, A.C. Kelley and S.W. Sinding (eds),Population Matters: Demographic Change, Economic Growth, and Poverty in the Developing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knodel, J. and G.W. Jones. 1996. Post-Cairo population policy: does promoting girls' schooling miss the mark?Population and Development Review 22(4): 683–702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipton, M. 1983. Demography and poverty.World Bank Staff Working Paper 623. Washington DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, D. and N. Thomson. 1993. Australian deaths in custody, 1980–1989: 2. Causes.Medical Journal of Australia 159: 581–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNicoll, G. 1997. Population and poverty: a review and restatement.Population Council Working Papers No. 105. New York: Population Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melchior, A., K. Telle and H. Wiig. 2000.Globalisation and Inequality: World Income Distribution and Living Standards, 1960–1998. Oslo: Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrick, T. 2001. Population and poverty in households: a review of reviews. Pp. 201–212 in N. Birdsall, A.C. Kelley and S.W. Sinding (eds),Population Matters: Demographic Change, Economic Growth, and Poverty in the Developing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milanovic, B. 2002. True world income distribution, 1988 and 1993: first calculation based on household surveys alone.Economic Journal 112 (Jan): 51–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mingat, Alain and J. Tan. 1985. On equity in education again: an international comparison.Journal of Human Resources 20: 298–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mougne, C. 1978. An ethnography of reproduction: changing patterns of fortility in a northern Thai village. In P.A. Stott (ed.),Nature and Man in South East Asia. London: School of Oriental and African Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muecke, M.A. 1984. Make money not babies: changing status markers of northern Thai women.Anthropology Today 26(4): 459–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M.C. 2000.Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oberai, A.S. 1993.Population Growth, Employment and Poverty in Third-World Mega-Cities: Analytical and Policy Issues. New York: St. Martins Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogawa, N., G.W. Jones and J.G. Williamson (eds). 1993.Human Resources in Development along the Asia Pacific Rim. Singapore: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A. 1998. Social capital: its origins and applications in modern sociology.Annual Review of Sociology 24(1): 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Psacharopoulos, G. 1993. Returns to investment in education: a global update.World Bank PDR Working Paper 1067. Washington DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Psacharopoulos, G. and M. Woodhall. 1985.Education for Development. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R.D. 2000.Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, H. 2001.An Indelible Stain? The Question of Genocide in Australia's History. Melbourne: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, K. 2001. Government agency, women's agency: feminisms, fertility and population control. In Margaret Jolly and Kalpana Ram (eds),Borders of Being: Citizenship, Fertility, and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Romer, P. 1990. Endogenous technical change.Journal of Political Economy 98: S71-S103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala-i-Martin, X. 2002. The disturbing rise of global income inequality.Working Paper 8904. Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, T.P. 1993. Returns to women's education. In Elizabeth M. King and M. Anne Hill (eds),Women's Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz, T.P. 2002. Why governments should invest more to educate girls.World Development 30(2): 207–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Secor, L. 2003. Mind the gap: the debate over global inequality heats up.Boston Globe 5 Jan.: D1.

  • Sen, A. 1997. Development thinking at the beginning of the 21st century. London: Development Economics Research Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. 1999.Development as Freedom. New York: Alfred Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, O. 1991.The Migration of Labour. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suryahadi, A., W. Widyanti and S. Sumarto. 2002. The state of poverty in 2000.SMERU News 2: 14–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tan, J. and A. Mingat. 1992.Education in Asia: A Comparative Study of Cost and Financing. Washington DC: World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomson, N. and D. McDonald. 1993. Australian deaths in custody 1980–1989: relative risks of Aborigines and non-Aborigines.Medical Journal of Australia 159: 581–585.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2000.Human Development Report 2000. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, J. and D. McDonald. 1995. The over-representation of Indigenous people in custody in Australia.Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 47 Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warr, P. 1998. Thailand. Pp. 49–65 in Ross Garnaut and Ross McLeod (eds),East Asia in Crisis: From Being a Miracle to Needing One? London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, I. and J. Buchanan. 2001. Beyond impoverished visions of the labour market. Pp. 194–228 in R. Fincher and P. Saunders (eds),Creating Unequal Futures? Rethinking Poverty, Inequality and Disadvantage. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westoff, C.F. and L.H. Ochoa. 1991. Unmet need and the demand for family planning.Demographic and Health Surveys, Comparative Studies No. 5. Columbia MD: Institute for Resource Development/Macro Systems International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiteford, P. 1998. Understanding poverty and social exclusion: situating Australia internationally. Pp. 38–69 in R. Fincher and R. Saunders (eds),Creating Unequal Futures? Rethinking Poverty, Inequality and Disadvantage. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williamson, J.G. 2001. Demographic change, economic growth, and inequality. Pp. 106–136 in N. Birdsall, A.C. Kelley and S.W. Sinding (eds.),Population Matters: Demographic Change, Economic Growth, and Poverty in the Developing World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. 1993. Indonesia: public expenditures and the poor.Country Department III. East Asia and the Pacific Region. Report No. 11293. Washington DC.

  • World Bank. 1995.Priorities and Strategies for Education: A World Bank Review. Washington DC.

  • World Bank. 2002 Vietnam: poverty reduction strategy paper and joint IDA-IMF staff assessment. June 7.Report No. 24271. Washington DC.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Block AS7, Level 4, 5 Arts Link, 117570, Singapore

    Gavin W. Jones

Authors
  1. Gavin W. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gavin W. Jones.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jones, G.W. The demography of disadvantage. Journal of Population Research 21, 107–126 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03031894

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03031894

Keywords

Search

Navigation