Fertility facts for kids

Fertility is all about the ability to have babies or offspring. It's how families grow and how the world's population changes over time.

In people

When we talk about fertility in people, we mean the ability of a person to have children. Sometimes, people might have trouble having children, which is called infertility. Doctors can help people who have trouble with fertility.

In populations

Fertility can also refer to how many babies are born in a group of people, like in a country or a city. This helps us understand how the population is growing or shrinking.

Measuring Fertility

There are different ways to measure fertility in a population. These measurements help us understand how many babies are being born and how the population is changing.

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The crude birth rate is a simple way to measure fertility. It counts how many babies are born in a year for every 1,000 people. For example, if a town has 1,000 people and 20 babies are born in a year, the crude birth rate is 20.

General Fertility Rate (GFR)

The general fertility rate is a bit more specific. It counts the number of babies born in a year for every 1,000 women who are old enough to have children (usually between 15 and 44 years old). This gives a better idea of how many women are having babies.

Child-Woman Ratio (CWR)

The child-woman ratio compares the number of young children (under 5 years old) to the number of women who could have babies (15 to 49 years old). This is useful for looking at old records when it's hard to count the exact number of births.

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The total fertility rate is an estimate of how many children a woman would have if she lived through her childbearing years and had babies at the same rate as women today. For example, if the TFR is 2.1, it means that women are having enough babies to replace themselves and keep the population steady.

Gross Reproduction Rate (GRR)

The gross reproduction rate counts how many girl babies a group of women will have. It assumes that all the girl babies will grow up to have their own babies.

Net Reproduction Rate (NRR)

The net reproduction rate is like the GRR, but it takes into account that some women might not live long enough to have babies. It's a more realistic measure of how the population will grow. If the NRR is 1.0, it means that each generation is the same size as the one before. If it's less than 1.0, the population is shrinking, and if it's more than 1.0, the population is growing.

What Affects Fertility?

Many things can affect how many babies are born in a family or a population. These things can be related to people's lives, their health, and where they live.

Social and Economic Factors

• Family Size: How many children a person's parents had can influence how many children they want to have.
• Beliefs: People's beliefs and values can affect their decisions about having children.
• Support: Having support from family and friends can make it easier to have children.
• Money: Having enough money can make it easier to afford to raise children.
• Education: Getting an education can change people's plans about having children.
• Jobs: Whether women work outside the home can affect how many children they have.
• Where People Live: Living in a city or a rural area can affect fertility rates.
• Housing: The cost of housing can influence whether people decide to have children.

Health Factors

• Physical Health: Being healthy is important for both men and women to have children.
• Nutrition: Eating healthy foods can help women have healthy pregnancies.
• Age: Women's fertility decreases as they get older, especially after their mid-30s. Men's fertility also decreases with age, but not as much as women's.

See also

In Spanish: Fertilidad para niños