Births

• Birth rate

  The number of live births per thousand of the population per year
• Factors determining the birth rate

  1. Proportion of women of childbearing age (15-44)

  2. Fertility of women (how many children they have)
• Total fertility rate (TFR)


  The average number of children a woman will have during her lifetime
• The UK's TFR has declined over the long-term, from a high of 2.93 children per woman to around 1.58 children per woman
• Infant mortality rate (IMR)

  The number of infants who die before their first birthday, per thousand babies born alive, per year
• In 1900, the UK's IMR was 154 (over 15% of babies died in their first year)
• Reasons for the decline in the IMR

  1. Improved housing and sanitation

  2. Better nutrition, including for mothers

  3. Improved knowledge of hygiene and child health

  4. Fewer married women working

  5. Improved services for mothers and children
• By 2019, the UK's IMR had fallen to 3.9 (less than 3% of its 1900 figure)
• Falling IMR

  Leads to a fall in the birth rate (as fewer infants die, parents have fewer children)
• Children becoming an economic liability

  Laws banning child labour, introducing compulsory schooling and raising the school leaving age mean children remain economically dependent on their parents for longer
• Child centredness

  Childhood is now socially constructed as a uniquely important period, leading to a shift from 'quantity' to 'quality' of children (fewer children, more attention and resources)
• There was a slight increase in births in the first decade of the 21st century, partly due to an increase in migration (mothers from outside the UK have higher fertility rates)
• Declining birth rates


  Affect the family (smaller families, more women in paid work), the dependency ratio (fewer children to support), public services and policies (fewer schools, maternity services needed)
• Declining birth rates lead to an ageing population (more old people relative to young people)