Demography (Birth)

Question 1

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Answer 1

The average number of children women will have during their fertile years.

Question 2

2001 TFR

Answer 2

all-time low of 1.63 children per woman

Question 3

1964 TFR

Answer 3

peak of 2.95 children per woman

Question 4

These changes in fertility and birth rates reflect the fact that…

Answer 4

More women are remaining childless than in the past.
Women are postponing having children (AV Age: 30)
Older women may be less fertile (fewer fertile years = less children)

Question 5

Reasons for decline in birth rate

Answer 5

1. Changes in women’s position
2. Decline in the infant mortality rate
3. Children are now an economic liability
4. Child-centredness
5. Future trends in birth rates

Question 6

Changes in women’s position (legally)

Answer 6

• Legal equality with men, including the right to vote.
• Increased educational opportunities (girls now do better at school than boys.)
• More women in paid employment (plus laws outlawing unequal pay and sex discrimination.)
• Easier access to divorce.

Question 7

Sarah Harper (2012): (CWP)

Answer 7

• The education of women is the most important reason for the long-term fall in birth and fertility rates.
• It has led to a change in mind-set among women, resulting in fewer children.

Question 8

2012 (Women remaining childless)

Answer 8

1/5 women aged 54 were childless.

Question 9

Harper (DIMR)

Answer 9

Harper: A fall in the IMR leads to a fall in the birth rate.

Many infants die, parents have more children to replace those they have lost.

Question 10

The Infant Mortality Rate (IMR)

Answer 10

Measures the number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies.

Question 11

United Kingdom: IMR

1900, 1950s, 2012

Answer 11

1900: 154. (+15% of babies died within their first year.
1950s: 30
2012: 4 (Barely one 40th of the 1900 figure)

Question 12

Brass and Kabir (1978)

Answer 12

Argue that the IMR began to fall in urban areas as opposed to rural areas.

Question 13

Reasons for the decrease in IMR

Answer 13

• Improved housing and better sanitation. (clean drinking water reduced infectious disease)
• Better nutrition, including that of mothers.
• Better knowledge of hygiene, child health and welfare (Often spread through women’s magazines)
• A fall in the number of married women working may have improved their health and that of their babies.

Question 14

Children are now an economic liability. (Laws)

Answer 14

Laws:

• banning child labour
• introducing compulsory schooling
• raising the school leaving age mean that children remain economically dependent on their parents for longer and longer.

Question 15

Children are now an economic liability. (changing norms)

Answer 15

Changing norms about why children have a right to expect from their parents in material terms mean that the cost of bringing up children has risen.

Question 16

Child Centredness

Answer 16

• Child centredness of family and society as a whole has encouraged a shift from quantity to quality.
• Parents have fewer children and lavish more attention and resources on these few.

Question 17

Future Trends in Birth Rates

Answer 17

• Mothers from outside the UK have a higher fertility rate than those born in the UK.
• Babies born to mothers from outside the UK accounted for 35% of all births in 2011.
• 2041: Annual number of births expected to be at around 800,000.