fertility rate

Examples of fertility rate in the following topics:

• Fertility

  • Replacement level refers to the fertility rate needed to maintain a stable population size.
  • 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).
  • The TFR (or TPFR—total period fertility rate) is a better index of fertility than the crude birth rate because it is independent of the age structure of the population, but it is a poorer estimate of actual completed family size than the total cohort fertility rate.
  • Fertility rates vary among countries and cultures because these factors vary.
  • Examine the impact of fertility rates on society and the various ways fertility is computed and discussed

• 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.
  • When the fertility rate is at the replacement level, a population will remain stable, neither growing nor shrinking.
  • However, when the fertility rate deviates from the replacement level, the size of the population will change.
  • Fertility rates above the replacement level will cause the population to grow; fertility rates below the replacement level will cause the population to shrink.
  • All of the nations of East Asia - with the exceptions of Mongolia, the Philippines, and Laos - have fertility rates below replacement level.

• Data and Methods

  • 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
  • Sub-replacement fertility is a fertility rate that is not high enough to replace an existing population.
  • Fertility rates are just starting to decline in Africa.
  • The chart below highlights the varied fertility rates of specific countries as some have very low fertility rates, many have moderate rates, and some have very high rates.
  • One of the strongest predictors of fertility rates is women's educational attainment.

• Three Demographic Variables

  • The United States illustrates how the rate of natural increase and net migration combine to create population change—the fertility rate in the U.S. is at almost exactly replacement level, but migration into the country is high enough to lead to population growth.
  • Human population growth depends on the rate of natural increase, or the fertility rate minus the mortality rate, and net migration.
  • Changes in population size can be predicted based on changes in fertility, mortality, and migration rates.
  • 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.
  • The US fertility rate has leveled off at about 2.0, which is nearly equal to the replacement level.

• Population Trends

  • Once countries pass through the demographic transition, some experience fertility rate decreases so substantial that they fall well below replacement level—the birth rate needed to maintain a stable population—and their populations begin to shrink.
  • About half the world population lives in nations with sub-replacement fertility.
  • To combat extremely low fertility rates, some of these governments have introduced pro-family policies, such as payments to parents for having children and extensive parental leave for parents.
  • The United Nations projects that the world population will stabilize in 2075 at nine billion due to declining fertility rates.
  • Others argue that economic development is the best way to reduce population growth because economic development can spur demographic transitions that lead to reduced fertility rates.

• Problems in Forecasting Population Growth

  • Such policies could have a significant effect on global fertility rates.
  • 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.
  • Any of these changes could affect fertility rates and therefore alter forecasts of population growth.
  • The problem with activism surrounding population growth is that forecasts cannot predict unexpected changes in fertility and mortality rates.
  • Explain the various ways sociologist try to estimate the rate of population growth, such as through fertility, birth and death rates

• Population Growth and Overpopulation

  • The United Nations projects that the world human population will stabilize in 2075 at nine billion due to declining fertility rates.
  • Russia and Eastern Europe are dramatically below replacement fertility.
  • Others argue that economic development is the best way to reduce population growth as economic development can spur demographic transitions that seem to naturally lead to reductions in fertility rates.
  • To combat extremely low fertility rates, some of these governments have introduced pro-family policies, that include things like payments to parents for having children and extensive parental leave for parents.
  • Such policies may reverse the low fertility rates, but they also seem to be shortsighted in light of the concerns associated with overall world population growth.

• Demographic Transition Theory

  • By the late 20th century, birth rates and death rates in developed countries leveled off at lower rates.
  • Some scholars delineate a separate fifth stage of below-replacement fertility levels.
  • Others hypothesize a different stage five involving an increase in fertility.
  • The United Nations Population Fund (2008) categorizes nations as high-fertility, intermediate-fertility, or low-fertility.
  • For countries with intermediate fertility rates (the United States, India, and Mexico all fall into this category), growth is expected to be about 26 percent.

• Mortality

  • Just as demographers measure fertility in different ways, they also measure mortality in various ways.
  • Like fertility, mortality also depends on the age and gender distribution of a population.
  • 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.
  • Like fertility, mortality rates vary between countries, especially between developing and developed countries.

• The Middle Years

  • Middle adulthood is generally accompanied by a decline in physical health and fertility, and an increase in ability to cope with stress.
  • Physical fitness usually wanes, with a 5–10 kg (10-20 lb) accumulation of body fat, reduction in aerobic performance and a decrease in maximal heart rate.
  • However, people age at different rates and there can be significant differences between individuals of the same age.
  • Both male and female fertility declines with advancing age.
  • Middle aged women will experience menopause, which ends natural fertility, in their late 40s or early 50s.