Births Flashcards
How do sociologists measure births?
The Birth Rate: number of live births per thousand of the population per year
Factors which determine the Birth Rate
•Proportion of woman at child-bearing age
•How many children women have
•Total Fertility Rate: number of children women have during their fertile years
-UK TFR has increased, but not to the extent it has in the past
Reasons for the decline in the Birth Rate: Changes in Women’s Position
•Women now have greater and quicker access to divorce, abortion, and reliable contraception
•Changes and attitudes to women’s role within the family
•Harper (2012): education of women has led more women to be career focused and as a result delay having children -> once low fertility rates last longer than one generation, it becomes a cultural norm
Reasons for the decline in the Birth Rate: Decline in Infant Mortality
•Harper: decline in infant mortality has lead to a decline in the birth rate because if less infants are dying early, parents are having less children to replace them
•The IMR has declined because of:
-improved sanitation and housing
-better health and hygiene knowledge
•:( Brass and Kabir (1978): families becoming smaller began in more urban areas despite the IMR remaining higher for longer than in rural areas
Reasons for the decline in the Birth Rate: Children are an Economic Liability
•Children used to be seen as economic assets because they could be sent to work and thus earn more money
•After child labour and compulsory education was introduced, they were seen as an economic liability because parents had to support their children
Reasons for the decline in the Birth Rate: Child Centeredness
•Families focus on looking after the children they already have and put in majority of their time, money, and effort to get the best materials for their children
•Parents have high expectations and aspirations for their children so they choose to have fewer children to focus more independently
Future trends of the Birth Rate
•Increased with immigration: women who enter the country are majorly in their prime fertility years and thus have more children
-> babies born to immigrants accounted for 25% of all births (2011)
•Decreased with the tightening of border controls: less immigrants are entering the country
Impact of the Changes to the Birth Rate: The Family
•Decrease in the birth rate may lead more women to focus on work which as a result increases the number of dual-earner couples
•Smaller family sizes
Impact of the Changes to the Birth Rate: The Dependency Ratio
Dependency Ratio: the size of the working population against the size of the non-working population
•Decrease in the birth rate also decreases the dependency ratio because children make up a lot of dependent population
•However, this may lead to a smaller working population in the future to support the new dependent population
Impact of the Changes to the Birth Rate: Public Services and Policies
•Decrease in the birth rate may make children-based services such as the education system like schools or maternity sectors be given less funding, or less are created
