Which of the following are NOT the characteristics of first stage of Demographic Transition Theory?
A. High technical know-how
B. Deliberate control of family size
C. Small family size
D. Low life expectancy
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A, B and C only
A. High technical know-how Not a first-stage feature (Correct). In the first stage people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology, so epidemics and an uncertain food supply keep deaths high. High technical know-how comes only in the last stage, when the population has become urbanised and literate.
B. Deliberate control of family size Not a first-stage feature (Correct). Where many children die, families have more children to make up for the deaths caused by epidemics and an uncertain food supply, so nobody limits births. People deliberately control the family size only in the last stage, after mortality has fallen.
C. Small family size Not a first-stage feature (Correct). Most people work in agriculture, where more hands mean more work done on the land, so large families are an asset. High deaths add to this pull towards big families, so families are large, not small.
D. Low life expectancy A first-stage feature (Incorrect). High mortality keeps life expectancy low in this stage.
NCERT (2025-26): “DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION … … The first stage has high fertility and high mortality because people reproduce more to compensate for the deaths due to epidemics and variable food supply. The population growth is slow and most of the people are engaged in agriculture where large families are an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are mostly illiterate and have low levels of technology. Two hundred years ago all the countries of the world were in this stage.” “DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION … In the last stage, both fertility and mortality decline considerably. The population is either stable or grows slowly. The population becomes urbanised, literate and has high technical know-how and deliberately controls the family size.…”
|
