birth rate

(noun)

The birth rate is typically the rate of births in a population over time.

Related Terms

Examples of birth rate in the following topics:

  • The Demographic Transition

    • The demographic transition is a model and theory describing the transition from high birth rates and death rates to low birth and death rates that occurs as part of the economic development of a country.
    • In pre-industrial societies, population growth is relatively slow because both birth and death rates are high.
    • In most post-industrial societies, birth and death rates are both low.
    • This is depicted in the diagram when death rates fall in stage two but birth rates do not fall until stage three.
    • By the end of stage three, birth rates drop to fall in line with the lower death rates.

  • Demographic Transition Theory

    • In stage one, pre-industrial society, death rates and birth rates are high and roughly in balance.
    • In stage three, birth rates fall.
    • The birth rate decline in developed countries started in the late 19th century in northern Europe.
    • During stage four there are both low birth rates and low death rates.
    • By the late 20th century, birth rates and death rates in developed countries leveled off at lower rates.

  • Population Trends

    • The demographic transition refers to the shift from high birth rates and death rates to low birth and death rates; this occurs as part of the economic development of a country.
    • The basic premises of the theory are as follows: in pre-industrial societies, population growth is relatively slow because both birth and death rates are high; as countries develop, death rates fall faster than birth rates do, resulting in large population growth; as development stabilizes, birth rates drop off and the population stabilizes .
    • Most of the population growth in the world today comes from developing countries, most notably African countries, where birth rates have remained high.
    • Malthus argued for population control—policies intended to lower the birth rate—to avoid this happening.
    • This model illustrates the demographic transition, as birth and death rates rise and fall but eventually reach equilibrium.

  • Fertility

    • There are a number of different approaches to measuring fertility rate—such as crude birth rate (CBR), general fertility rate (GFR), child-woman ratio (CWR), total fertility rate (TFR), gross reproduction rate (GRR), and net reproduction rate (NRR).
    • Crude birth rate (CBR) is the number of live births in a given year per 1,000 people alive at the middle of that year.
    • The birth rate is an issue of concern for many governments and policymakers.
    • Conversely, other countries have policies to reduce the birth rate, such as China's former one-child policy.
    • There are claims that as countries go through economic development and social change, birth rate declines.

  • Problems in Forecasting Population Growth

    • Population growth is difficult to predict because unforeseen events can alter birth rates, death rates, migration, or resource limitations.
    • Population growth is difficult to predict because unforeseen events can alter birth rates, death rates, migration, or the resource limits on population growth.
    • Birth rates may decline faster than predicted due to increased access to contraception, later ages of marriage, the growing desire of many women in such settings to seek careers outside of child rearing and domestic work, and the decreased economic "utility" of children in industrialized settings.
    • Fertility rates could be significantly reduced by providing education about overpopulation, family planning, and birth control methods, and by making birth-control devices like male/female condoms, pills, and intrauterine devices easily available.
    • Explain the various ways sociologist try to estimate the rate of population growth, such as through fertility, birth and death rates

  • Three Demographic Variables

    • The basics of demographic population growth depend on the rate of natural increase (births versus deaths) and net migration.
    • Human population growth depends on the rate of natural increase, or the fertility rate minus the mortality rate, and net migration.
    • (Births - Deaths) +/- ((In-Migration) - (Out Migration)) = Population Change.
    • As this equation shows, population change depends on three variables: (1) the natural increase changes seen in birth rates, (2) the natural decrease changes seen in death rates, and (3) the changes seen in migration.
    • Natural increase refers to the increase in population not due to migration, and it can be calculated with the fertility rate and the mortality rate.

  • Implications of Different Rates of Growth

    • Fertility rates refer to the rates of birth per 1,000 women of reproductive age in a given population.
    • Fertility rates above the replacement level will cause the population to grow; fertility rates below the replacement level will cause the population to shrink.
    • However, in some countries the birth rate is falling while the death rate is not, leading to a decline in the population growth rate.
    • The population growth rate has been decreasing in higher income countries; however the number of people added to the global population each year continues to increase due to increasing growth rates in lower income countries.
    • Some countries still have growing populations due to high rates of immigration, but have native fertility rates below replacement: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are similar to Western Europe, while the United States is just barely below replacement with about 2.0 births per woman.

  • Data and Methods

    • ., birth, death, marriage registrations).
    • crude birth rate: the annual number of live births per thousand people
    • age-specific fertility rate: the annual number of live births per 1000 women in particular age groups (usually age 15-19, 20-24 etc.)
    • total fertility rate: the number of live births per woman completing her reproductive life if her childbearing at each age reflected current age-specific fertility rates
    • infant mortality rate: the annual number of deaths of children less than 1 year old per thousand live births

  • Mortality

    • Some of the more common demographic measures of mortality include the crude death rate (the annual number of deaths per 1000 people), the infant mortality rate, or the annual number of deaths of children less than 1 year old per thousand live births, and life expectancy, which measures the number of years that an individual at a given age can expect to live, given present mortality rates.
    • This happens because developed countries typically have a completely different population age distribution, with a much higher proportion of older people, due to both lower recent birth rates and lower mortality rates.
    • To more accurately estimate mortality rates, demographers calculate age and gender specific mortality rates.
    • These rates are compiled in a life table, which shows the mortality rate separate for each age group and gender.
    • Explain the various ways mortality is calculated, such as the crude death rate, infant mortality rate and life expectancy

  • Unmarried Mothers

    • In 1990, 73% of births to unmarried women were unintended at the time of conception, compared to about 44% of births overall.
    • The spike was caused by an increase in unmarried pregnancies, which 36% of all births by unmarried women, and to the increasing prevalence of divorces among couple.
    • In the United States, 27% of single mothers live below the poverty line, as they lack the financial resources to support their children when the birth father is unresponsive.
    • In the United States, the rate of unintended pregnancy is higher among unmarried couples than among married ones.
    • In 1990, 73% of births to unmarried women were unintended at the time of conception, compared to about 44% of births overall.