Declining birth rate, fertility rate and family size

Declining birth rate, fertility rate and family size

• 1.
  The decline inthe birth rate, fertility rate and average family size
• 2.
  Birth rate • Thenumber of live births per thousand of a population per year • The birth rate has declined from 29 per 1,000 in 1901 to about 13 per 1,000 in 2012
• 3.
  Fertility rate • Generalfertility rate – the number of live births per 1,000 women of child-earing age (15-44) per year • Total fertility rate – the average number of children women will have during their child- bearing years • The average family size had declined since 1900 from 6 dependent children per family to 1.7 dependent children per family in 2012
• 4.
  Reasons for declineof birth rate, fertility rate, and size of families • Contraception • Compulsory education • The rising costs of having children • The changing position of women (Sharpe) • The declining infant mortality rate • A geographically mobile labour force • Changing values
• 5.
  Contraception • More effective,safer and cheaper • Gone from being disapproved to accepted – feminism • Secularization, decline in influence of church • Also the availability of safe and legal abortion since 1967
• 6.
  Compulsory education • Childrenbarred from employment in nineteenth century • Gone from being an economic asset to an economic liability and drain on resources • Have to be supported in education for long time and often in post-17/18 education e.g. college and university
• 7.
  The rising costsof having children • In research carried out by Opinion Matters for insurance company Aviva in 2011, 58% of parents with one child cited ‘money’ as the reason for not having a second child • Average cost of raising child from birth until age of 21 is around £271,000, which includes education, clothing, food, leisure activities, etc. • Parents therefore limit the size of their families to give their children a higher standard on living
• 8.
  The changing positionof women (Sharpe) • Sharpe found that priorities of girls have changed from 1976 to 1994 • From the order of love, marriage, husbands, children, jobs and careers… • To job, career and being able to support themselves
• 9.
  The changing positionof women • Paid employment combined with childcare responsibilities causes them to limit their family size (smaller family size) • Some don’t have children at all (birth rate) • Some have children later, after their careers are established - the number of live births to women aged 40 and over has quadrupled in the last 30 years
• 10.
  The declining infantmortality rate • Until the late 1940s parents relied on children to care for them in old age. Though more babies were beginning to survive infancy, it was still often uncertain whether they would outlive their parents therefore they had many children as a safeguard • The decline in infant mortality rate and death rate meant parents didn’t need to have more children as security • Also, the welfare state and agencies exist to help elderly people so they’re less reliant on children
• 11.
  A geographically mobilelabour force • Smaller families can more easily be packed up and moved elsewhere
• 12.
  Changing values • Parenthoodinvolves great pressure, longlife commitment and a loss of freedom and independence • Growing individualization and impact of feminism has resulted in women wanting more from life than motherhood • Postmodernist view – people are focused on consumer spending and leisure activities rather than having children