One of the key factors of population increase and shift in age structure is fertility. During the past couple of decades, global fertility has decreased significantly, while national and even regional aggregates obscure a wide spectrum of fertility changes. One of the United Nations major publications tracking and examining fertility trends over time is the “World Fertility Report”. Across all countries and regions in the world, Fertility Report includes up to date regional fertility data. Through advisory group meetings and forums, analyses and insightful presentations, global, national and nation analyzes are also available.
The most popular metric is the “Total Fertility Rate” or TFR, which calculates the total child number per mother, or simply fertility rate. The estimated global fertility rate today is just about 2.5 children per mother. The average birth rate has halved in the past 50 years. And the amount of children per mother falls significantly through modernisation of communities. In the pre modern age of fertility rates were normal between 4.5 and 7 children per mother. Around that time, population increase at a very young age remained low. When health improves and the death rate declines in the nation, we have usually had a rise in population. This accelerated demographic increase concludes with the birth rate dropping almost two children per mother.
Decline of the Fertility Rate since 1950
The typical woman had five children 50 years ago, and the figures have been halved since then. In past, far more children had existed as compared to current figures. The amount differed over time and variations between nations occurred. Having an average of 5 children, was valid for the United States , the United Kingdom, Russia , India , China and other nations two hundred years before.
Reasons Behind Rapid Fall of Global Fertility
The three key factors are empowerment for women (greater access to schooling and increased involvement in the labour markets), decreased child mortality, and a rise in children’s education rates (which also contributed to a reduction in child labor).
What are the options?
Family planning; why family planning is so relevant today is to take into consideration the proportion of premature pregnancies. There is a rather large rate of unwanted births. It is estimated 47 that 85 million pregnancies were unsolicited for 2012-the last year for which we have data. This constitutes 40% of the births in that year, 213 million.
Contraception; empowering women and increasing infant welfare decreased the level of desire for having children. Nevertheless, if no way can be identified, a target of lower fertility becomes meaningless. Contraception strategies enable parents to get closer to their ideal fertility in the real fertility.
Coercive policy interventions; One of Chinese Government’s famous claims is that China’s one child policy stopped around 400 million Chinese births. Taiwan; which China claims as part of China, has never introduced a one-child policy However, Taiwan suffered the same decline as China. Of approximately 7 children per woman to less than 2. The argument is that social and
economic growth is profoundly essential and eventually what determines the decision of the women on the amount of children they want.