Basic Measurement

UNIT 1 BASIC MEASUREMENT OF of Fertility

FERTILITY
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Concept of Fertility
1.3 Concept of Fertility Measures
1.4 Data for Fertility Measures
1.5 Fertility Measures
1.5.1 Crude Birth Rate (CBR)
1.5.2 General Fertility Rate (GFR)
1.5.3 Age –Specific Fertility Rates (ASFR)
1.5.4 Total Fertility Rate (TFR)
1.5.5 Child Woman Ratio (Fertility Ratio or CWR)
1.5.6 General Marital Fertility Rate (GMFR)
1.5.7 Legitimate and Illegitimate Fertility Rate (GLFR and GILFR)
1.5.8 Age-Specific Marital Fertility Rate (ASMFR)
1.5.9 Sex Age Adjusted Birth Rate (SAABR)
1.5.10 Gross Reproduction Rate (GRR)
1.5.11 Net Reproduction Rate (NRR)
1.5.12 Parity Specific Birth Rate
1.5.13 Software for Analysis of Fertility
1.6. Let Us Sum Up
1.7. References and Suggested Readings
1.8. Check Your Progress- Possible Answers

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Bases of Population studies are Fertility, Mortality and Migration and trios are altering
population size and structure at particular geographic area. Fertility and mortality
happens once in life and both are biological process. The basic concepts and measures
are universe and variables, and rates and ratios in population studies. According to
Srinivasan (2014) measure of fertility is important as births are crucial for biological
replacement of populations and for the survival of the human society as a whole.
Any increase or decrease in the population of a country is largely the result of a
surplus or deficit of births over deaths. Desire for long live and instinct of survival
affects fertility and population changes which is the appeal of world community.
Demographic transition shows that first death rate has declined and resultants of
that fertility have declined in any country. We know that every one want reduce
fertility and none of us want to increase death rate in anyway.
After reading this unit learner will be able to:
(i) Explain the concepts of measure
(ii) Discuss the fertility and fecundity
(iii) Describe the basic components of fertility measures
(iv) Narrate the factors of fertility measures 151
Fertility
1.2 CONCEPTS OF FERTILITY
Before venturing to fertility study, we have to know the basic terms of fertility and
its concepts. Two terms are important in measures of birth- fertility and fecundity.
Fertility connotes the actual reproductive performance of a woman or the number
of children a woman has or the average number of children for a group of women.
Sometimes the term natality is used to refer to the more general analysis of child
bearing, though this usage is becoming less common, and the term fertility is commonly
used to cover all aspects of reproduction (Srinivasan, 2014). Another word is fecundity,
which denotes the physiological capacity to bear children and is the opposite of
the term sterility. No direct measurement of fecundity is possible, whereas fertility
can be studies from the statistics of births. Fertility is possible only when a woman
attains adulthood (or menarche) and usually ends with her attaining menopause, around
the age of 45. The fertility of an individual woman is limited by her own fecundity.
Woman’s fecundity varies according to a monthly cycle, depending on the time of
ovulation within her menstrual cycle. Also immediately following a birth, it is not
possible for a woman to conceive because there are a few months of amenorrhoea
following the birth and even after the commencement of menstruation the first few
cycles are anovulatory. The length of this post partum amerorrhoea and the
anovulatory periods has been found to be strongly related to the duration of
breastfeeding of the child by the mother. Hence the factors of fecundity, duration
of breastfeeding of the child by the mother and the consequent period of amenorrhoea
following a birth are of great significance in the analysis of fertility in a population.
Theoretically, if a woman gave birth to one child every 10 months over a period of
31 years (15 to 45), she could produce 37 children during the physiologically limited
child bearing period. Even if she gave birth to a child every 15 months throughout
her reproductive period, she would produce a total of 25 children. Of course, no
population ever reaches that maximum and there is great variability between the
reproductive productivity of women. According to the Guinness Book recorded is
69 by a woman who lived near Moscow during the eighteenth century (16 pairs of
twins, 7 sets of triplets and 4 sets of quadruplets). A religious sect living on the
borders of the United States of America and Canada, called Hutterites, has recorded
the highest average for any community, which is about 11 births per woman. In
this community, culture places a high positive value on couples having children and
any form of birth control is considered sinful (Srinivasan, 2014).
Hutterite fertility- Population which do not take explicit measures to limit the
number of births are said to experience natural fertility. The experience of the Hutterites
community is an example of the natural fertility in a population. In such population
fertility is considered to be an essentially biological phenomenon and its level varies
mainly due to social customs such as varying age at marriage and different breastfeeding
and weaning practices and not due to any contraceptive measures adopted for the
spacing for children. The concept of natural fertility was first put forward by Louis
Henry (1961).
Infertility- as we know that some of the woman is not able to give birth of any
children due to various reasons. This woman is known as sterile or infertile. Sterility
may be used in connection with individuals or groups, consisting of either men or
women or both. In general as in the case of fertility, sterility measures are also
152 computed in demography only for women. There are two types of sterility- primary
and secondary. Formerly refers to woman has not produced any live births at all, Basic Measurement
of Fertility
and latterly, the woman who has become sterile after the birth of one or more children.
Fecundability- measure of fertility with a menstrual cycle is called fecundability. It
denotes the probability of a woman conceiving within a monthly menstrual cycle.
This term fecundability was given by Italian Statistician, Corrado Gini in 1924 as a
way of improving the understanding of the birth interval or the interval between
two successive births. It is defined as the probability of conception in a menstrual
cycle among woman who menstruates regularly but do not practice contraception.
However in recent years fecundability is defined as the probability of conception
in a menstrual cycle including woman who is using contraception and it is called
residual fecundability. The natural fecundability is the condition in which a woman
is not using contraception. Fecundability is normally measures only for married women.
Effective fecundability refers to those conceptions which lead to live births.
Comparisons of natural and residual fecundabiliy have been used to assess
contraceptive effectiveness.

1.3 CONCEPT OF FERTILITY MEASURE

Any measure depends on the nature of population and its sample. Population size,
distribution and structure led the measurement of fertility, because fertility is determined
by size, spatial distribution and age sex structure. Basic measure of fertility is rate.
A rate is a ratio of one thing to another in a specified period of time. A birth rate
is the ratio of births during a specified period of a group of population. Most often
rates in population statistics are expressed in terms of years, but a rate may be
computed for any other time period such as a week, month, quarter, decennium,
etc (Mondal, et.al., 2007). Population rates are usually given as the number of events
which occurred per 1000 inhabitants. For example, if there were 50 births per 1000
inhabitants during the year, the crude birth rate for the year is 50. Thus the number
of events which occurred during a given period is the numerator of a rate and the
population in which the events occurred in the denominator. Care must be taken in
the calculation of rates to be sure that the population in the denominator is really
the population among which the events in the numerator occurred. Fertility rate is
the indicator of population growth. If there are 100000 people in an area at the
beginning of the year and 120000 at the end of the year, the increase in 20 percent
that is 20000 additional people have been added to the population. Fertility can
be measured by using data of age group, residence (rural urban differential in fertility),
social group, spatial location, among working age population, etc.

1.4 DATA FOR FERTILITY MEASUREMENT

Fertility is the biological process of population growth which concerned with the
addition of new members to a population as a result of birth, that is the actual
performance of a population in bearing children. It is not to be confused with fecundity,
which is the biological capacity of the population to bear children. To measure fertility,
different sources of data may be used such vital statistics and population censuses
provide most of these data. Special sources, such as baptismal records, may prove
valuable either for basic data or for the evaluation of birth registration or census
data under some circumstances.
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Fertility Most countries maintain a birth registration system from which statistics are periodically
compiled. Before relying heavily on birth registration data for the measurement of
fertility, every effort must be made to determine the completeness of registration.
Preliminary evaluation may be accomplished fairly rapidly by comparing the number
of infants enumerated in the census with the number of births reported in the year
preceding the census. This check indicates that the birth registration data are grossly
deficient, it may be necessary to estimate births from census data on infants and
young children. Analytical devices which rely upon registration data alone, without
making use of census data or population estimates, should be approached with caution.
The safest assumption is that deficiencies in the registration do not occur in the same
degree in all segments of the population. Delay in birth registration may affect the
quality of data on the number of births. It is often the case that a baby dies before
his birth is registered and neither the birth nor the death is registered. Even though
all surviving babies may be registered by the time they are one year or two years
old, the practice of delayed registration of births is likely to result in some
understatement of the number of births in the statistics especially if infant mortality
is high. Such errors do exist in birth registration which is otherwise essentially complete;
appropriate adjustments can be made on the basis of data on the age of babies at
the time their births were registered. Thus, data for fertility measures are Census,
civil registration system (CRS/ vital statistics) and sample registration system (SRS).
SRS is called dual record system of data compilation because same births may be
recorded in CRS which has been compiled in SRS.
Check Your Progress 1
Note : a) Write your answer in about 50 words
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) Explain briefly concept of fertility.
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2) Described data for fertility measures.
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1.5 FERTILITY MEASURES

Basic measure of fertility is birth rates such as the crude birth rate (CBR), age specific
birth rate (ASBR), and parity-specific birth rates. Generally, there are two broad
types of measures of fertility: period fertility and cohort fertility measures. In other
hand, the analysis of fertility is basically carried out in two perspectives- first is in a
period perspective and the other in a cohort perspective. The events that occur in
154 a given period of time (calendar years) are studied in relation to the durations of
exposure of the population during that period. In cohort, the events and duration Basic Measurement
of Fertility
of exposure are studied for well-defined cohorts as they move over time. The term
“cohort” indicates a group of people who have a similar experience (born baby) at
the same time. Two types of cohorts are generally used in demography – Birth cohorts
and Marriage cohorts.
Period of measures of fertility are related to a period and based on data on the
number of births in that period. These include Crude Birth Rate (CBR) General
fertility rate (GFR), and Child Women Ratio (CWR). Similarly, Cohort measures
of fertility, in any sample fertility survey, a question is usually asked about number
of children ever born (CEB) to women up to a time in the reproductive age groups.
Using this approach, fertility is estimated indirectly on the basis of age and sex
distribution of the population. These include Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Gross
Reproduction Rate (GRR), and Net Reproduction Rate (NRR). Measures of fertility
are direct measures, and indirect measures.

1.5.1 Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

Crude birth rate is the most widely used measure of period fertility. The number of
births per 1,000 inhabitants (Population) knows as the crude birth rate, is the simplest
measure of the rate at which a population is being replenished by births. It is arrived
at by dividing the number of live births which occurred in one year by the number
of inhabitants in the same population at the mid- point of that year, and multiplying
the result by 1,000. That is,
Number of births of a given birth order occurring in an
Annual Crude Birth area during a year
= X 1000
Rate (CBR) Midyear total population of appropriate parity group
in same area in the year

Other way, Crude birth rate is defined as the ratio of total births in a year in a
specified area divided by total mid-year population of the same specific area in the
same year multiplied by a constant K (1000).
CBR= B/P*1000
Where B= the total number of live births in a year = 539427
P = the total population in the middle of the year =31841374
K= is constant, usually 1000.
Example – CBR = 539427/31841374*1000 = 16.9 birth per 1000 population
It is called crude birth rate because; it includes all age and sex of population which
are not involved in fertility process. For example, male, children, older age (50+years)
women cannot produce children, but included in the analysis that is why it is called
crude birth rate.
CBR is an important measure of fertility, for it directly links fertility to the growth
rate of population. Computation of CBR is easy and quick, and requires minimum
data. CBR also indicates the level of fertility in a population. A major weakness of
CBR is that it is not very sensitive to small fertility changes; in fact it tends to minimize
them. CBR is affected by many factors: age, sex, and marital status. It is also influenced
by age structure of the population, and by level of fertility and age pattern of fertility.
Only live birth should be taken into account in the numerator; the denominator should
include the entire (but no more than) population in which the births occur. This last 155
Fertility point is especially important in calculating birth rates for areas which do not comprise
the entire nation. It is even more important when comparisons are made between
rural areas and urban areas rather than in comparison between larger territorial
divisions. Births are ordinarily reported first on the basis of place of occurrence,
which often is different from the usual place of residence of the mother. Whenever
possible, data on births which are classified by place of residence of the mother
should be used. If such data are not available, rural-urban comparison should not
be made because a varying number of births to rural mothers occur in urban hospitals.
While conducting an analysis it is usually preferable to treat each ethnic group in
the rural population and urban population separately if data permit. Otherwise, the
pronounced rural-urban fertility differentials which exist in many countries may be
mistaken in terms of ethnics or other differential. In a situation where there are neither
error in reporting the number of births nor error in the population base, the crude
live births rates range from about 15 (in the low-fertilities countries of Europe) to
approximately 50, or even higher in the areas of highest fertility.
The crude birth rate is not sufficiently refined measure of fertility for some purpose.
In studying fertility differentials, the population analyst not only needs information
whether country ‘A’ has a relatively larger but he also needs to know the various
factors that contribute to this difference. For example, in preparing estimates should
know as much as possible about the past and present population variable that affect
fertility; the determination and analysis of these factors require a more refined measure
than that offered by the crude birth rate. Nevertheless, the crude birth rate is a
powerful measure for determining the impact of present fertility on the total population;
but it should be used only as a measure of the overall fertility.
Table 1.1: Basic Measure of Fertility for Kerala, 2001
Age group Number of Birth Female ASFR
Population (Per 1000 Women)
Column 1 2 3 (2/3)*1000
15-19 36748 1499920 24.5
20-24 223656 1543523 144.9
25-29 198224 1489290 133.1
30-34 63738 1330656 47.9
35-39 15083 1311576 11.5
40-44 1685 990887 1.7
45-49 292 974123 0.3
Total 539426 9139975 363.9
Total Population 31841374

Source: Registrar General of India (2004), Sample Registration System, Statistical Report, 2001
(Srinivasan, 2011)
Note: ASFR of SRS, 2001 is applied to the 2001 Census population to Obtain the number of
Births
CBR = (539426/31841374)*1000= 16.94
GFR = (539426/ 9139975)*1000 = 59.02
TFR = Total of ASFR*5 (5 yrs period)/1000 = (1819.5/1000)= 1.82
GRR = TFR*(1/2.05)= 0.89, where (1/2.05) is the proportion of female babies in total births,
with the assumption of sex ratio at birth of 105 male births to 100 female births
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1.5.2 General Fertility Rate (GFR) Basic Measurement
of Fertility
Above you have read that CBR uses the entire population in the denominator which
is not meaningful measure of fertility. Statistically, the birth rate is a measurement
of the probability or the ‘risk’ of giving birth to a living child. Obviously, it is not
the total population that is ‘at risk’ but the female population of child bearing age.
Consequently, differences in the crude birth rate may indicate nothing more than
differences in the percentage of population made up of women in the child bearing
ages. The general fertility rate is the number of live births per 1,000 women in the
child bearing ages. Most demographers use the female population in the age group
15-44 or 15-49 as the base of this rate. The United Nations recommends that the
age group 10-49 be used as the base. 4 The general fertility rate is given by the
following formula;

If virtually all births occur within marriage (including consensual union) in the society
under study, a further refinement may be introduced by limiting the denominator to
females in the child bearing ages who are either married or living in consensual union.
Such refinement puts this rate into clearer focus because it eliminates from the
denominator (which comprises females in the age group 15-49) all those women
who are unmarried, divorced or widowed. This rate might appropriately be referred
to as the marital status-general fertility rate to distinguish it from the more common
general fertility rate. Either the general fertility rate or the marital-status-general fertility
rate can be calculated on the basis of the male population in the age group 15-49
years, in which case the name of the rate would be preceded by the word ‘’male’’
We can measure GFR other way, the relative frequency of childbirth varies significantly
with the age of parents. The age at which maximum fertility occurs may be different
for the males and females. Further, fertility is highest among couples who have
established some type of cohabitation (legal marriage, or common law marriage)
than among persons not in such a union (single). Conversely, specific fertility rates
are given separately for female parents and male parents. Usually, children are born
to women between the ages of 15 and 45 years, which are known as the reproductive
age group. The fertility rate for this group, called the “General Fertility Rate” (GFR),
is calculated as the ratio of total number of yearly births to the total number of
females (mid-year population) of child bearing ages (15-44 or 15-49 years). The
purpose of having a GFR is to restrict the denominator to potential mothers, but
too not restrictive for analysis.
We say that as far as the risk of conception is concerned, the denominator used in
the calculation of this measure is not a homogeneous group, and all women have
not same rate fertility in age group, it does control entirely for age structure and
comparisons using GFR may also be misleading though not to the same degree as
those using the CBR. To overcome this it is necessary to measure fertility age specific.

1.5.3 Age –Specific Fertility Rates (ASFR)

Age specific birth rates differ from the general fertility rate in that both the numerator
and the denominator are restricted and the age span is shortened. In most cases,
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Fertility age specific rates are calculated either for five-year age group or by single years
of age. The numerator is the number of live births to females of a specific age; the
denominator is the number of women of that age.

Age-specific birth rates can be further refined in the same manner as the general
fertility rate. This refinement can be accomplished by limiting the base population
to those women who are living as married. The reproductive age interval 15-49
can be either divided into single or five year or wider intervals and rates could be
made specific for each age group. Because of the wide variations in fertility by age,
age specific fertility rates have been found to be very useful. Generally five year
age groups of women are used for calculating the ASFR, resulting in seven numbers,
one for each age group 15-19, 20-24,————, 40-44, 45-49. For the calculation
of this measure, it is necessary to have births classified by the age of the mother as
well as all women by the same age group. The ASFR obtained for the women in
the age group 20-24 is given below.
ASFR (20-24) = (223656 / 1543523) x 1000 = 144.9 (Table 1.1)
The general pattern of the ASFR is the rate increases to a maximum between ages
20-29 and then decreases slowly to reach zero by age 50. It is to be noted that
the ASFRs are not affected by any variations in the age structure of the population.

1.5.4 Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

Total fertility rate is the most widely used measure of fertility by population scientists.
It is generally expressed as number per women. This measure can be thought of
as the number of children a woman would have if she survived of age 50 and throughout
her reproductive life span she is subjected to a fertility schedule described by the
ASFR in question. The importance of TFR is that it is a single figure and is independent
of age structure. ASFR can be calculated from a single year’s age data as well as
for broader age groups. Usually, the reproductive age span is divided into age groups
in five-year intervals. Thus, there would be six or seven groups, depending on the
upper limit of the reproductive age span. This makes comparison between two or
more populations a cumbersome exercise. Thus, we use the Total Fertility Rate
(TFR), a summary measure of ASFR, to facilitate comparison. TFR is obtained by
multiplying the sum of ASFR by the width of the age group, and then dividing the
product by the value of radix (i.e., 1,000). Consider the following:
TFR = {(“ASFR) n)}. 1/K, where ‘n’ is the gap of 5 years in the age group and
‘K’ is the value of the radix (1000). Thus, TFR refers to the total number of children
a woman will produce during her childbearing age span if she is subjected to a
fertility schedule as prescribed by the age-specific fertility rates. TFR, together
with ASFR, can be further used to construct several useful measures for the study
of fertility changes.
However, the computation of TFR requires a lot of information, such as the births
by age of the mother and age of the women. If the ASFR used for the computation
of TFR is expressed per 1000 women, it is necessary to divide the TFR by 1000.
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TFR is the best indicator of fertility rate at replacement level. TFR 2.1 indicates Basic Measurement
of Fertility
the level of replacement level, because it can be assume that all the women have
not given birth 2, may be more than two or less than two. That is why TFR 2.1 is
the level of replacement level of the fertility.
TFR = TF × Cm × Ci × Ca × Cc
TMR = TF × Cc × Ci × Ca
TNMF = TF × Ci
Ca = TFR / {TFR + 0.4 × (1 + u) × TA}
Where,
TFR = Total Fertility Rate
TMR= Total Marital Fertility
TNMF= Total Natural Marital Fertility
TF = Total Fecundity Rate
Cm = Index of marriage
Ci = Index of postpartum infecundability
Ca = Index of abortion
Cc = Index of contraception
TA = Total abortion rate (Total number of abortions over the reproductive period
per woman among only married women)
u = contraceptive prevalence (UNFPA)

1.5.5 Child Woman Ratio (Fertility Ratio or CWR)

Child Women Ratio is the simplest measure of fertility based on the age distribution
of a population and used in the analysis of fertility. The fertility ratio is the number
of children under five years of age per 1000 women in the age group of 15-44
both as enumerated in a census. The ratio is calculated as –

Fertility Ratio or Children below five years

= X 1000
Child Woman Ratio Women of age group 15-44 or 49

or
P
5 0
CWR = X 1000
35
W 15

P Number of children under 5 years of age at a particular time35W15 = Number

5 0=
of women in the age group 15-49 (called reproductive span) at the same time
The subscript 15 on the right of W indicates the beginning of the age interval and
the subscript 35 on the left of W indicates the duration of the interval beginning at
age 15. Why Child woman ratio has calculated? Because, it can be derived from
any census giving the population by age and sex. It requires no birth registration
159
Fertility data, no census data on the number of children ever born, nor any special tabulation
of any sort. The use of the CWR is that it requires only limited information. A census
generally gives the number of children under age 5 and in 5 year age groups for
other ages and thus this measure is particularly useful when using census data. Basically
it is a crude measure and if fertility is high the ratio will be high and if fertility is low
the ratio will be low. Also, since 5P0 is the number of total survivors of the births of
five consecutive years. The ratio depicts the fertility trend in the recent past adjusted
for mortality among children. It is not a convenient measure to use to compare
population with substantially different levels of infant and child mortality or where
under reporting of children is a major problem.
The CWR does not have a proportional relationship to the CBR because-
- It is influencing to greater extent by infant and childhood mortality rates
and
- it is independent of gross errors in the total population count
Although it may be influenced somewhat by large errors in the female population
aged 15-44 years. The extreme range of child women ratio is from about 30-50
years. In CWR extreme care must be taken to make sure that mothers and their
children are classified in the same age group. for example, CWR of the foreign
born women relate to the foreign born and native born children of these women.
Techniques have been developed to convert the CWR into a standard fertility measure
such as CBR or the GFR. This is because the children under 5 years of age are
the survivors of the births to the women that occurred in the previous 5 years. Hence
if we have an idea of the mortality experiences of these children during the past
five years they can be converted into births during the past five years and conventional
fertility measures can then be worked out.

1.5.6 General Marital Fertility Rate (GMFR)

You have read GFR, which is actually an ASFR for the age group 15-49, if we
use the number of married women rather than all the women in the denominator,
we will get a new rate called general marital fertility rate (GMFR). Besides age,
marital status is an important factor in fertility. In almost all societies in the world,
birth is allowed only in a marital bond. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to
consider only currently married women, and not all women, in the reproductive ages.
Fertility calculated in this manner is termed as General Marital Fertility Rate (GMFR),
and is calculated from the following expression:

GFMR = (53942 / 6497495) *1000 = 83

Although it is a refinement over CBR, GFR also suffers from certain limitations.
The measure considers the entire female population in the reproductive ages as a
homogeneous group, whereas the fecundity of women is not uniform during the period.
Thus, GMFR must also be considered as a crude rate. Thus, the ASFR which
also control for marriage by using the married women in the denominator are called
age-specific marital fertility rates (ASMFR). It is also possible to compute the total
160
marital fertility rates (TMFR), which is equivalent to the TFR for a married woman. Basic Measurement
of Fertility
However, there are problems in the interpretation of the TMFR which make it less
attractive than the TFR as a measure of period fertility.
By definition, TMFR is the average experience of a woman who gets married by
age 15 and stays in married life until age 50. In reality, age at marriage and duration
of stay in the marital state vary widely among populations. It is exaggerated by the
high fertility rates of few married women in the age group 15-19. Hence this measure
is not used frequently in demographic analysis. The differentials in age at marriage
can be resolved to some extent by simply leaving out the ASMFR for the age group
15-19 while calculating the TMFR.

1.5.7 Legitimate and Illegitimate Fertility Rate (GLFR and

GILFR)
As we know that in India, birth of children is a ceremonial event, but not before
marriage. If any women have born children before marriage or not currently married
(widow, unmarried, separated) that is not acceptable by any society and that baby
is called illegitimate birth or Nazayaj aulad. Illegitimate fertility rate used mostly in
the developed countries where many births takes place without marital status. Any
births take place within currently marital status is called legitimate birth otherwise
illegitimate birth.

and

1.5.8 Age-Specific Marital Fertility Rate (ASMFR)

You have read above general marital fertility rate (GMFR) which is not by specific
age, ASFR is also not clearly indicate whether all the women in specific age group
are married or not. Thus, one must note that the measure ASFR can be used
with reference to only currently married women in an age group. Thus, it becomes
necessary to introduce an Age-Specific Marital Fertility Rate (ASMFR), which
can be expressed as:

Since there is a possibility of greater incidence of unmarried women in the early

age groups, and divorced, separated and widowed women in the older age brackets
of the reproductive age span, ASMFR provides a more realistic picture of fertility
levels in a population. It is also possible to compute the total marital fertility rate
(TMFR), which is equivalent to the TFR for a married woman.

1.5.9 Sex Age Adjusted Birth Rate (SAABR)

Another measure that reduces the effects of age structure to a minimum and hence,
facilitating comparison of the fertility levels of two or more populations is Sex Age
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Fertility Adjusted Birth Rate (SAABR). The United Nations defines it as “the number of
births per 1,000 of a weighted sum of the number of women in various five-year
age groups from 15 to 44” (UN, 1956:42).
The UN recommends a standard set of weights (1, 7, 7, 6, 4 and 1) corresponding
to the six five-year age groups in the reproductive age span from 15 to 44 years.
These weights are roughly proportional to the typical relative fertility rates of various
age groups. These weights were derived based on a study of 52 nations having
varying levels of fertility. SAABR is calculated from the expression:
SAABR = B/[(1xW1) + (7xW2) + (7xW3) + (6xW4) + (4xW5) + (1xW6)].
‘B’ is the number of live births in a calendar year and W1, W2…. W6 are the
number of women in the six five-year age groups in the reproductive age span. In
the calculation of TFR, if only female births are considered, the resultant measure
will be known as Gross Reproduction Rate (GRR).

1.5.10 Gross Production Rate (GRR)

Gross Reproduction Rate (GRR) is another measure of period fertility rate. The
gross production rate is the number of female babies that would be produced by
the average woman who survived the entire reproductive period and who experienced
the age-specific birth rates prevailing at the time for which the rate is calculated. It
is calculated by adding together the age Specific birth rates of females births for all
age groups, and converting the result to a rate ‘per women’ by dividing by 1,000.
That is, the gross reproduction rate is the sum of the age-specific birth rates, using
only female births for the calculation of the rates.GRR is a TFR, with the modification
that it is computed only for female births.
In practice, the gross reproduction rate is usually calculated form data for both male
and female births, and from age-specific birth rates for five- year age groups. When
this is done, the age-specific birth rates for five- year age groups are added together
and the total is multiplied by five (because there are only one-fifth as many rates
as there would be if single-year age-specific birth rates were used). The product is
then divided by 2.05 (because the ‘normal’ sex ratio at birth is about 105 males
per 100 females in most population) to arrive at the gross reproduction rate. In
this illustration, the gross reproduction rate is equal to
GRR = TFR *(1/1+S)
S= sex ratio at birth (SRB) (Table 1.1)
Thus, the gross reproduction rate can be calculated using the birth rates according
to the ages of men in the population, though this type of rate is seldom used. However,
if the births are to be male births only then we have a rate which may be called the
male gross reproduction rate. The gross reproduction rate is a single figure summary
of all the age-specific birth rates of a population free from the influence of age
composition. As such, it is a convenient means for comparing fertility performance
independently of the effects of differences in age composition at different times or
from different areas, provided reliable data are available. However, as is the case
with all rates based on birth registration data one often encounters cases in which
large differences in the rate reflect differences in the completeness of birth reporting
rather than true differences in fertility.
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However, we can say that GRR is the average number of daughters that would be Basic Measurement
of Fertility
born to a woman during her lifetime if she passed through the childbearing ages
experiencing the average age specific fertility pattern of a given period. If the data
on births by sex are available for each group in the childbearing age group, the
ASFRs may be computed for female children and the GRR can be computed by
summing up these ASFRs, multiplying the sum by 5 and finally dividing the product
by 1000. If GRR = [1.82*(1/2.05)=0.89], it may be noted that if the SRB is 1:1,
then the value of GRR will be one-half of the TFR. If we have no knowledge of
SRB, we can assume it to be 105 boys to 100 girls. This rate is generally used in
comparing the fertility of various population groups. While computing the measure,
no attention is paid to mortality.

1.5.11 Net Reproduction Rate (NRR)

The gross reproduction rate does not take into account the effects of mortality on
population or the replacement of population by fertility; it simply indicates the average
number of female babies that would be born to a member of a cohort of women.
Obviously, some women die before they have completed the child bearing period,
some of course, die before the period begins. The net reproduction rate takes this
into account. This rate is average number of female babies that would be born to
each woman in a cohort of women taking into account deaths among the new cohort
of women throughout the child bearing ages, using the age specific death rates
prevailing at a given time. In other words, NRR is the average number of daughters
that would be born to a woman (or a group of women) if she passed through her
lifetime conforming to the age-specific fertility and mortality rates of a given year.
This rate is similar to the gross reproduction rate, but takes into account that some
women will die before completing their childbearing years. An NRR 1 means that
each generation of mothers has exactly enough daughters to replace themselves in
the population. NRR can be measured as :
No. of female expected to be born to 1000 newly born girls
NRR =
1000
For example, if 1000 female give birth to 1 girl each, then 1000 girls are born, and
if these girls live till fertility. NRR= 1000/1000, or NRR=1.
The NRR is calculated by multiplying the survival rate of each age by the age specific
birth rate for that age (taking into account only female births) and adding the products
of the multiplication. NRR 1 indicates that if the births and death rates of that year
continued, then 100 women in the child bearing ages would have 100 daughters
who would survive to the same ages. We can say that NRR of 1 means, an exact
replacement of the population; that is on the average, each woman who reaches
the child bearing age succeeds in raising one daughter who survives to the child
bearing age.
NRR have come to be used more cautiously in recent years. if birth rates change
greatly from one year to the next, then the NRR cannot be used as a prediction of
the population increase. Also the NRR requires reliable death statistics as well as
reliable birth registration data and accurate census enumeration by age.
Obviously, the NRR is a smaller number that the gross reproduction rate. The greater
the mortality of females the greater will be the difference between the two rates.
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Fertility Thus, a measure which uses both the age specific schedule of fertility and mortality
is called NRR. In general NRR measure the extent to which a cohort of newly
born girls will replace their mothers under predetermined schedules of fertility and
mortality. Both these measures are normally calculated for the female population
only.

1.5.12 Parity-Specific Birth Rates

Parity-specific birth rates relate the number of births by birth order (that is, the
first birth to a woman, the second birth to the same woman, etc.) to the number of
women who have already born.

Parity specific birth rates may also be made specific for the age of the mother.
Sufficiently detailed data are rarely available for the computation of parity-specific
birth rate by age, however, because corresponding population figures are not available
except at the census period, and specific questions on the number of children ever
borne would have to be asked of the female population. Therefore, the birth rate
for birth order is usually calculated simply on the total female population between
10 years and 49 years. Rates computed in this manner are usually satisfactory for
comparisons from one year to another in the same population, for crude comparisons
of different populations.

1.5.13 Software for Analysis of Fertility

There are 13 spreadsheets for analyzing the fertility of a population. Most spreadsheets
are for populations whose registration of birth is not complete (Srinivasan, 2011).
1. ADJASFR-Adjusts a given pattern of age-specific fertility rates to reproduce
a desired total number of births.
2. ARFE-2-ARFE-2 estimates fertility using the Arriaga method based on the
average number of children ever born by 5-year age groups of females for two
dates and the pattern of fertility (ASFR) for those two dates.
3. ARFE-3- ARFE-3 is similar to ARFE-2 except that is based on the same data
at three points of time.
4. ASFRPATT- Provides age-specific fertility rates pertaining to a given total fertility
rate.
5. CBR-GFR-Calculates the crude birth rate and the general fertility rate based
on a desired total fertility rate.
6. CBR-TFR- Estimates the crude birth rate and the total fertility rate, based on
the general fertility rate.
7. PFRATIO-Uses the P/F ratio technique, originally developed by Brass, for
adjusting reported age specific fertility rates to the ‘actual’ level of fertility.
8. RELEFERT-Uses Rele’s technique for estimating the gross reproduction rate
164 of a population for one or two 5-year periods prior to the census date.
9. REL-GMPZ- Uses the technique developed by Brass and associates ‘for the Basic Measurement
of Fertility
evaluation and adjustment of fertility estimates obtained from retrospective reports
of birth histories or features of birth histories’.
10. REVCBR-Calculates crude birth rates during two or three 5-year periods prior
to the census date, based on the age structure of the population.
11. TFR-GFR- Estimates the total fertility rate and the general fertility rate based
on a crude birth rate.
12. TFRLGST- Fits a logistic function to two or more values of total fertility rates,
and interpolates and extrapolates. It requires asymptotic values.
13. TFRSINE -Fits a sine function to two values of total fertility rates, and
interpolates and extrapolates.
Check Your Progress 2
Note : a) Write your answer in about 50 words
b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit.
1) Described CBR and Measure TFR
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
2) What is Replacement level value of TFR and NRR?
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................

1.6 LET US SUM UP

We have studied that fertility is one of the components of population change. Fertility
is the biological process and it indicates growth of population. There are many
measures of fertility based on period and cohort situation of births. These measures
are Crude Birth Rate (CBR), General Fertility Rate (GFR), Age –Specific Fertility
Rates (ASFR), Total Fertility Rate (TFR), Child Woman Ratio (Fertility Ratio or
CWR), General Marital Fertility Rate (GMFR), Legitimate and Illegitimate Fertility
Rate (GLFR and GILFR), Age-Specific Marital Fertility Rate (ASMFR), Sex Age
Adjusted Birth Rate (SAABR), Gross Production Rate (GRR), Net Reproduction
Rate (NRR), and Parity Specific Birth Rate. Each measure has its importance and
application in the population and family health studies for policy purpose. Fertility
measure is the best indicators of the population size and family planning which is
important for agricultural scientist, health scientist, political affairs, administrative action
and economists. There are various factors of fertility which will be study in the next
unit in this block. 165
Fertility
1.7 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Mitali Verma, (n.d.) Fertility of Population Dynamics: 2 Measures of Fertility Analysis.
Accessed online from http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/population-geography/fertility-
of-population-dynamics-2-measures-of-fertility-analysis/43246 December 11, 2022
Woods, R., “Population Analysis in Geography”, Longman, London, 1979, p. 96.
Bogue, D. J, (1969): Principles of Demography, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New
York.
Coale, A. J., (1971):”Age Patterns of Marriage”, Population studies, Vol: 25, part 3,
Coale, A. J. and T. J Trussel, (1974): “Model Fertility Schedules: variations in the
age structure of Childbearing in Human Populations”. Population Index, Vol: 40,
No.2.
Pressat, R, (1972): Demographic Analysis, Edward Arnold, London.
Shryock, H. S. et al (1979): The Methods & Materials of Demography, Condensed
Edition by Stockwell, E. G, Academic Press, New York.
Ramamumar, R, (1986): Technical Demography, Wiley Eastern Ltd, New Delhi.
Bhende, Asha and Tara Kanitkar, (2004): Principles of Population Studies, 5th Ed.
Himalaya Publishers, New Delhi.
Mishra, B. D, (1981): An Introduction to the Study of Population, South Asian
Publishers, Pvt. Ltd.
Pathak, K. B and F. Ram, (1998): Techniques of Demographic Analysis, Himalaya
Publishing House, Mumbai.
Srinivasan K. (1998): Basic Demographic Techniques & Applications, Sage
Publications, New Delhi.
Srinivasan K. (2011): Training Manual on Demographic Techniques, Office of the
Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Government of India, New Delhi.
Or UNFPA, (2011): Training Manual on Demographic Techniques, Office of the
Registrar General & Census commissioner, Govt. of India.
UNFPA, http://papp.iussp.org/sessions/papp101_s05/PAPP101_s05_040_030.html
retrieved on November 09, 2022.

1.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
Q1. Explain briefly concept of fertility
A. Fertility means the biological capacity of a woman to born a baby in her
reproductive life span. Fertility rate is the best indicator of national population
growth and reproductive health of woman. Fertility can be measured with
respect of fecundity of women and it is influencing from various factors.
166
Q2. Described data for fertility measures Basic Measurement
of Fertility
A. Population data for fertility measures are population census, Sample
Registration System (SRS), and Civil Registration System (CRS) which
are widely used for measurement. SRS data depicts dual record because
same birth has registered in CRS in the specific period. Census is the
best source of fertility at national level but it is decadal information.
Check Your Progress 2
Q1. Described CBR and Measure TFR
A. CBR is the crude measure of fertility which indicates birth rate of the country
with respect of the total population while TFR is the measure of birth
rate with respect to the reproductive age of the woman. TFR can be
measured by using ASFR and multiply by width of age group 5 years.
Q2. What is Replacement Level Value of TFR and NRR?
A. Replacement level is the status where we can know the status of population
growth rate whether high or low fertility rate. We can find out the
replacement level of fertility by two measures total fertility rate and net
reproductive rate. The values of both measures at replacement level are
2.1 and 1.0 respectively.

167