Page 561 - Sociology and You

Chapter 16 Population and Urbanization
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Fertility
Fertility measures the actual number of children born to a woman or to a population of women. Fecundity is the potential number of children that could be born if every woman reproduced as often as biology allowed. Obviously, fertility rates are much lower than fecundity rates. The highest re- alistic fecundity rate you could expect from a society would be about fifteen births per woman. The record fertility rate for a group probably is held by the Hutterites, who migrated a century ago from Switzerland to North and South Dakota and Canada. Hutterite women in the 1930s were giving birth to an average of more than twelve children each (Westoff and Westoff, 1971). The Hutterites give us a good estimate of fecundity, because they are the best example of natural fertility—the number of children born to women in the absence of conscious birth control (Weeks, 1999).
How is fertility measured? The crude birth rate is the annual num- ber of live births per one thousand members of a population. The crude birth rate varies considerably from one country to another. The crude birth rate for the United States is fifteen per one thousand. Niger, in West Africa, experi- ences a very high crude birth rate of fifty-three per one thousand; and Germany, a very low rate of nine per one thousand.
To calculate the crude birth rate, divide the annual number of live births by the total population and multiply that number by 1,000.
The term crude in this case means rough, or approximate. The crude birth rate is approximate because it is based on the entire population rather than just women of child-bearing age. It also ignores the age structure of the pop- ulation. Both sex and age affect the number of live births in any given year. Consequently, in addition to the crude birth rate, demographers use the fertility rate—the annual number of live births per one thousand women
fertility
a measure of the number of children born to a woman or a population of women
fecundity
the maximum rate at which women can physically produce children
crude birth rate
the annual number of live births per one thousand members of a population
fertility rate
the annual number of live births per one thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four
How might fertility drugs affect the crude birth rate?
Number of Live Births
TEXT ARTC(rtuodebBeirtihnRseatrete=d later) x 1,000
Total Population