Demographer

As a demographer, you are part number-cruncher, part detective. You look at data about people - census records, surveys, birth and death records - and work out patterns. Maybe more people are moving to cities than villages. Maybe families are getting smaller. Maybe your area is ageing. You turn these patterns into clear pictures that help planners make decisions.

Your work involves both desk time and fieldwork. You might design a survey to ask people about their lives, then spend time with communities gathering real stories and experiences. You'll use spreadsheets and statistics software to spot trends and work out what might happen next. Then you'll write reports and create charts to show what you found, so that schools, hospitals, councils and charities can plan ahead properly.