Grand Challenge Seminar

Reproduction

Births by Mother’s Age1960 - 2000

Fertility Rate• The average number of births required for the

natural replacement of a population is estimated at 2.1 births per adult woman. For every adult woman in a population, a female child must be born who will reach reproductive maturity and have children.

• The fertility rate in the United States has fluctuated from the late 1950s, when the rate was 3.5 births per woman, to a low of 1.8 in the 1970s. In 2004, the rate was 2.05, slightly less than the replacement estimate.

Group Differences in Fertility• Fertility rates in the United States vary by race /ethnicity and

socioeconomic status. Hispanic women have the highest fertility rate; Asian or Pacific Islanders and American Indians have the lowest.

• Women who have graduated from high school have a higher fertility rate than women who graduated from college or have a graduate degree.

• Women who are not in the labor force have a higher fertility rate than those in the labor force.

• Women whose family income is below $25,000 have a higher fertility rate than those above $25,000.

The Decision to Have Children

• The majority of high school students say that they want to have children in adulthood.

• The majority of high school students say that having children is among the most fulfilling experiences of adulthood.

• However, people increasingly see childbearing as a choice rather than an obligation.

• Childbearing is no longer viewed as one of the main reasons to get married.

Reasons for Having Children• Fulfilling a masculine or feminine gender identity• Fulfilling a religious obligation• Carrying on a family name and ancestry• Pressure from family and friends• Children make a family• A commitment to the future• An expression of a couple’s love• Having someone to love, who will love you• Having someone who will help expand the family’s economic

resources• Having someone who will care for you in old age and fulfill

burial rituals

Some Related Topics• Childbearing intentions- for men/for women

– Voluntarily childless– Single parents by choice– Desired family size– Desired age for childbearing

• Factors that influence a decision to have a child• Infertility- roughly 10% of U.S. couples of childbearing age• Assisted reproductive technologies• Adoption• Abortion• Multiple births• Infant mortality• International comparisons regarding birth rates; policies to support

families with children; policies to reduce or increase birth rates.

Stimulus Reading

• Jokela, M. (2010). Characteristics of the first child predict the parents’ probability of having another child. Developmental Psychology, 46, 915-926.