Types of population reproduction changed with the development of human civilization. Specialists identified three main stages through which society passed: the stage of the appropriating economy, agrarian and industrial. In this regard, the types of population reproduction are also classified.
The archetype is characteristic of several tens of thousands of years from the beginning of the development of human history. This first type of population reproduction arose even under the dominance of the appropriating (hunting, gathering, fishing) economy. A characteristic feature was the high dependence of people on their surrounding nature.
That primitive period was characterized by a small number and low population growth rates . Gradually, the appropriating economy passed to the producing (agricultural) one - cattle breeding and agriculture began to develop. This period is called the "Neolithic revolution." Thus, the prerequisites for the development of the following type appeared.
There was a second type of population reproduction for several millennia. This period was characterized by almost absolute dominance of the agrarian economy. The main indicators at this stage were a high birth rate and mortality rate. At the same time, which is characteristic, the latter at that time overlapped the first, which ultimately led to low population growth. According to demographers, then the main regulator was mortality, which in some way stimulated the birth rate. Other types of population reproduction are characterized by other growth mechanisms.
The turning point in the development of the general economy of society was the era of industrial coups of the 18-19 centuries. As you know, industrial revolutions began in the countries of Europe, and by the 20th century they embraced all the states in the world. During this period, a modern type of population reproduction began to take shape.
A new stage in the development of society is characterized by an orientation towards the formation of a completely different demographic situation, the use of completely different mechanisms.
Man has become less dependent on nature, health care has achieved significant successes, the general standard of living has improved - all this has led to a marked reduction in mortality, an increase in life expectancy (on average). These factors led to an increase in natural growth.
Important features that other types of population reproduction did not possess at the new stage should be considered significant flexibility and activity of demographic relations, providing freedom of choice for the family. At the same time, there is a significant increase in profitability and controllability in this period. In this regard, specialists call the modern type of reproduction a rational type.
All demographic processes require in-depth research and then interpretation. In the course of their study, concepts about the demographic transition and revolution appeared. Some sources consider these definitions as equivalent. In others, the demographic revolution is characterized as the completion of the transition. In such cases, they speak of three revolutions in human history: the Neolithic, the period of 18-19 centuries and the era of the second half of the XX century.
Each demographic revolution corresponds to a transition to a new kind of population reproduction. Such a scientifically substantiated understanding of the change of stages created the prerequisites for the development of the theory of transition. The main task in this case is to explain the nature of the changes and the sequence in the structure of the process of mortality, fertility, natural population growth, as well as assessing long-term trends.