APES 3.7 Total Fertility Rate

  • Total fertility rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman has during her childbearing years (~15-49)
  • Meant to show an average
    • The current world average is 2.4
  • In developing nations, TFR is often above 2.1
    • May be as high as 6 or 7 such as in Niger (7.6), the DRC (6.3), and Uganda (6.2)
    • In developing nations, people often need many children to do house or farm work
    • They also, unfortunately, don’t expect many children to survive, so have many to account for infant deaths
  • Developed nations have rates at or below 2.1
    • The lower the TFR, the slower growth is
    • For example, the US (1.8), the UK (2), Japan (1.4)
  • TFR is affected by many other factors
    • Age of first pregnancy
    • Educational opportunities
    • Family planning
    • Governmental policies