CHAPTER 6
Birth Rate
Crude Birthrate - The number of children born alive each year per 1,000 population (a crude
birthrate of 20 per 1,000 is the same as a 2% increase).
Death Rate - The yearly number of deaths per 1,000 population – an annual crude death rate of
15 per 1,000 would involve 1.5% of the population.
Demographic Transition - The phasing-out process of population growth rates from a virtually
stagnant growth stage characterized by high birthrates and death rates, through a rapid-growth
stage with high birthrates and low death rates, to a stable, low-growth stage in which both birth
and death rates are low.
Doubling Time - Period that a given population takes to increase by its present size. Doubling
time is approximated by dividing the numerical growth rate into 70 – a population growing at 2%
per year will double in size approximately every 35 years.
Family-Planning Programs - Public programs designed to help parents plan and regulate their
family size in accordance with their ability to support a family. The program usually includes
supplying contraceptives to the adult population, education on the use of birth control devices,
mass-media propaganda on benefits derived from smaller families, and pre- and postnatal health
care for mothers.
Fertility Rate - The yearly number of children born alive per 1,000 women within the childbearing
age bracket (normally between the ages of 15 and 49 years). See also crude birthrate. The total
fertility rate (TFR) is the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to
the end of her childbearing years and bear children at each age in accordance with the prevailing
age-specific fertility rates.
Hidden Momentum of Population Growth - A dynamic latent process of population increase
that continues even after a fall in birthrates because of a large youthful population that widens the
population’s parent base. Fewer children per couple in the succeeding few generations will not
mean a smaller or stable population size because at the same time there will be a much larger
number of childbearing couples. Hence a given population will not stabilize until after two or
three generations.
Life Expectancy at Birth - The number of years newborn children would live if subject to the
mortality risks prevailing for the cross section of population at the time of their birth.
Malthusian Population Trap - An inevitable population level envisaged by Thomas Malthus
(1766- 1834) at which population increase was bound to stop because after that level, life-
sustaining resources, which increase at an arithmetic rate, would be insufficient to support human
population, which increases at a geometric rate. Consequently, people would die of starvation,
disease, wars, etc. The Malthusian population trap therefore represents the maximum population
size that can be supported by the available resources.
Microeconomic Theory of Fertility - An extension of the theory of consumer behavior of
individual couples. The central proposition of this theory is that family formation has costs and
benefits and hence the size of families formed will depend on these costs and benefits. If the costs
of family formation are high relative to its benefits, the rates at which couples will decide to bring
forth children will decline, and vice versa.
Mortality Rate
Natural Increase
Net international Migration - Excess of persons migrating into a country over those who
emigrate from that country.
Population-Poverty Cycle - Theory to explain how poverty and high population growth become
reinforcing.
Population Pyramid - Graphical depiction of the age structure of the population, with age cohorts
plotted on the vertical axis and numbers of males and females in each cohort on the horizontal
axis.
Rate of Population Increase
Reproductive Choice - Argument that women should be able to determine on an equal status with
their husbands and for themselves how many children they want and what methods to use to
achieve their desired family size.
Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
Under-5 Mortality Rate
Youth Dependency Ratio - The proportion of young people under age 15 to the working
population aged 16-64 in a country.