Identify and explain three major sociological factors that might explain differences in fertility rates.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: One factor is the link between infant and child mortality and fertility. In regions or countries where early childhood survival is threatened by disease, poverty, or other risks, families may choose to have more children in order to ensure that some survive into adulthood to contribute to the household and care for elderly parents in countries without social welfare supports for retirees. Second, it has been said that children are a poor man’s riches. Indeed, in many agricultural economies, many hands are needed to do work and children are active contributors to a family’s economic well-being. Economic modernization correlates historically with drops in fertility. As well, where a lack of access to maternal and child health care is common, there may also be little access to safe, effective contraceptives that would enable women to control their fertility. In Nigeria, for instance, which has a TFR of 6.0, fewer than 10% of women use modern contraceptive methods.
KEY: Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe quantitative and qualitative dimensions of global wealth, poverty, and inequality.
REF: Cognitive Domain: Analysis
Answer Location: Hunger, Mortality, and Fertility in Poor Countries
Difficulty Level: Hard