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Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research pp 2268–2272Cite as

Fertility Rate

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Synonyms

Birth rate; Natality; Reproductivity of births

Definition

Fertility is the actual reproductive performance of a population as measured by the number of live births. Stillbirths, fetal deaths, and abortions are not included in the measurement of fertility.

Description

Fertility of a population is measured by various indexes known as fertility rates, which are conventionally calculated for the female population, although they can be calculated for the male population as well. For the sake of simplicity, fertility rates described in this section refer to women only.

Fertility rates can be classified into two groups: (1) those based on vital statistics registration and (2) those based on the census or surveys (Shryock et al., 1973). The two groups of rates are described in turn.

Fertility Rates Based on Vital Statistics Registration

The simplest and most popular measure of fertility that is based on vital statistics is the crude birth rate (CBR). It is defined as the total number...

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References

  • Barclay, G. W. (1958). Techniques of demographic analysis. New York: Wiley.

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  • Bogue, D. (1971). Demographic techniques of fertility analysis. Chicago: Community and Family Study Center, University of Chicago.

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  • Shryock, H. S., Siegel, J. S., et al. (1973). The methods and materials of demography (Vol. 2). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office.

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  • U.N. (1965). Population Bulletin of the United Nations No. 7–1963. New York: United Nations.

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  • U.N. (1983). Manual X: Indirect techniques of demographic estimation. New York: United Nations.

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  • U.N. (2005). World population prospects: The 2004 revision (Vol. I). New York: United Nations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Bali Ram

  2. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

    Bali Ram

Authors
  1. Bali Ram
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bali Ram .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

  2. (residence), Brandon, MB, Canada

    Alex C. Michalos

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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Ram, B. (2014). Fertility Rate. In: Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1041

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0753-5_1041

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0752-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0753-5

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