This blog is intended to go along with Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, by John R. Weeks, published by Cengage Learning. The latest edition is the 13th (it will be out in January 2020), but this blog is meant to complement any edition of the book by showing the way in which demographic issues are regularly in the news.

You can download an iPhone app for the 13th edition from the App Store (search for Weeks Population).

If you are a user of my textbook and would like to suggest a blog post idea, please email me at: john.weeks@sdsu.edu

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Top Ten Posts of 2013

The New Year is always a good time for reflection on the year that just ended, to be followed by plans for the coming year. As I did last year, I have taken the time today to see which of the more than 300 items I posted in 2013 have been viewed most often. Here is the top ten hit list:

1. By a very wide margin, the  most popular story was about the birth rate in Egypt:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/has-birth-rate-really-risen-in-egypt.html

2. Mexico's population projections based on a drop in fertility to replacement level along with rising life expectancy received considerable interest:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/01/mexicos-population-projections.html

3. The stop in the drop in the US birth rate also was a popular topic:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/us-birth-rate-stops-its-decline.html

4. The whole issue of replacement level fertility got a lot of attention:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/what-if-replacement-level-fertility-is.html

5. The PopQuiz on which country might be demographically the "worst" (answer: Niger) caught a lot of people's eyes:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/popquiz-which-country-has-worst.html

6. A story about the results of the Moroccan Demographic and Health Survey showing a decline in fertility was sixth on the list:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/07/moroccans-applaud-their-fertility.html

7. Evidence that life expectancy in Russia might be on the way back up was seventh on the list: 
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/04/life-expectancy-showing-signs-of.html

8. Are rich countries on the cusp of a baby boom? I think not, but some economists in Canada put that idea out there...
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-coming-baby-boom.html

9. The plight of older people in a rapidly changing South Korea was ninth on the list:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/02/filial-piety-takes-hit-in-south-korea.html

10. India's demographics winds up the top ten, with my comments on the incorrect analysis by The Economist on the differences in the Indian and Chinese labor forces:
http://weekspopulation.blogspot.com/2013/05/size-of-labor-force-and-demographic.html

Enjoy this walk down the demographic memory lane of 2013, and I hope that 2014 treats all of us very well.

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