Birth and fertility rates

• Birth rates


  Number of live births that occur each year per 1,000 of the population
• Fertility rate


  Average number of children a woman will have during her lifetime
• Infant mortality rate


  Number of children who die in the first year of their lives per 1,000 births
• Reasons for long term decline in birth rates

  • economic changes = women delay having children
  • contraception = more control over reproductive rights, legalisation of abortion in 1969 and more usage of contraception
  • cost of children = previously seen as economic insurance
  • reduction in infant mortality = more likely to delay, previously it was dangerous to have children over 30
• Impacts of decline in birth rates

  • Fewer children replace workforce > imbalance in dependency ratio in future > aging population > strain on public services to meet social and financial needs of dependents