Question

An increase in infant mortality will _______ replacement fertility rate. a. raise b. lower c. not affect

Short answer

An increase in infant mortality will raise the replacement fertility rate.

Step-by-step solution

Understanding Replacement Fertility Rate

The replacement fertility rate is the number of children a woman needs to have to ensure that one daughter survives to the childbearing age. This rate typically accounts for infant and child mortality, ensuring the population remains stable from generation to generation.

Analyzing the Impact of Infant Mortality

When infant mortality increases, it means more children die at an early age. If parents have more children, thinking some might not survive, the fertility rate needed to replace the population would need to increase. Thus, the replacement fertility rate would need to be higher to account for more infants not surviving to adulthood.

Conclusion Based on Analysis

Given the analysis that an increase in infant mortality requires a higher number of children to reach the replacement level, the increase in infant mortality will raise the replacement fertility rate to ensure enough daughters survive to motherhood.

Key concepts

Infant Mortality

Infant mortality refers to the death of young children under the age of one year. It is an important indicator of the overall health of a population. Various factors such as medical care, maternal health, and socio-economic status influence this measure. When infant mortality is high in a society, it implies that fewer infants survive past their first year of life. This can be due to multiple reasons, such as:

• Poor healthcare services or access to postnatal care
• Malnutrition or infectious diseases
• Poverty and lack of resources

An increase in infant mortality can have significant implications for demographic trends. Families may choose to have more children to ensure that some survive to adulthood, impacting the population growth dynamics. Understanding infant mortality is crucial for developing strategies to improve healthcare and living conditions for infants and their mothers.

Population Stability

Population stability is when the number of births equals the number of deaths, resulting in a stable population size over time. For a stable population, the replacement fertility rate must be met. This means each woman needs to have enough children to replace both her and her partner in the population, typically calculated as 2.1 children per woman in many regions.
Various factors affect population stability, including:

• Infant mortality rates
• Life expectancy
• Migration patterns

When mortality rates are high, more births are required to maintain population size, as seen with increased infant mortality. Ensuring population stability requires a delicate balance of social, economic, and health policies to address these factors effectively.

Fertility Rate Analysis

Fertility rate analysis involves studying the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime. This number is influenced by numerous conditions like cultural expectations, economic situations, and health system access.
To maintain a replacement level fertility rate, it must be high enough to ensure enough children survive to adulthood, thus replacing the parents.

• Replacement fertility often accounts for infant and child mortality to sustain population numbers.
• Fertility rate can be impacted by policy changes, such as those affecting healthcare or family support.

For demographers and policymakers, understanding fertility trends is essential in planning for future societal needs and ensuring a stable and sustainable population. An increased infant mortality rate pushes this replacement threshold higher, necessitating a detailed analysis of fertility adjustments to ensure adequate replacements in the next generation.