Deck 6: The Fertility Transition

Question 1

Among women in their late 30s and early 40s in the United States, the most popular form of contraception is:

A) the condom.
B) the pill.
C) sterilization.
D) the IUD.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

"Natural" fertility in most populations produces an average of about how many children?

A) 2-3
B) 4-5
C) 6-7
D) 8-9

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following characteristics of women is most closely associated with fertility levels?

A) Educational level
B) Labor force participation
C) Religious preference
D) Wealth

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a likely explanation for the high fertility that existed for most of human history?

A) Need to overcome high mortality
B) Children are a source of security and labor for their parents
C) The desire for sons
D) Religious objections to the use of contraception

Question 5

The fertility transition does NOT necessarily involve which of the following?

A) A shift to a higher probability that children born will survive to adulthood
B) A shift from low to high control over reproduction
C) A shift from family building by fate to family building by design
D) Parental freedom from the bondage of unwanted children

Question 6

Which region of the world currently has the highest levels of fertility?

A) Africa
B) Asia
C) Latin America and the Caribbean
D) Oceania

Question 7

Hutterite society has been notable especially for having high fertility in the context of:

A) low mortality.
B) dense urban life.
C) acceptance of abortion.
D) late age at marriage.

Question 8

Which of the following is LEAST likely to represent a long term explanation for a decline in fertility?

A) Population pressure created by low mortality
B) Increasing empowerment of women
C) Improving levels of education
D) Spread of westernization

Question 9

The net reproduction rate is also known as the:

A) total fertility rate.
B) fertility index.
C) generational replacement rate.
D) mean length of generation.

Question 10

The total fertility rate measures:

A) the total number of children born in a population.
B) the total number of surviving children that a woman will have in her lifetime.
C) the total number of children ever born to a woman at the end of her reproductive career.
D) the total number of projected children ever born per woman if ASFRs do not change.

Question 11

The evidence suggests that an important impediment to higher fertility levels in Europe is:

A) lack of gender equity within marriage.
B) the widespread use of abortion.
C) a continually sluggish economic environment.
D) the "glass ceiling" for women in the workplace.

Question 12

The concept of accepting calculated choice as being a valid element in marital fertility decisions is one of the:

A) differences between fecundity and fertility.
B) preconditions for a substantial fertility decline.
C) proximate determinants of fertility.
D) diffusion processes leading to a drop in fertility.

Question 13

The economic theory of children suggests that in deciding how many children to have, parents are doing the following:

A) Trading off between quality and quantity
B) Balancing supply and demand
C) Finding a mini-max solution to the marginal costs of children
D) Looking for the diminishing returns to opportunity costs

Question 14

The idea that couples strive to maintain a balance between how many surviving children they have and how many they want is associated with:

A) the preconditions for a substantial fertility decline.
B) the exogenous factors that influence reproductive behavior.
C) the new household economics of fertility behavior.
D) the demographic linkage between fertility and reproductive health.

Question 15

Which statement is LEAST descriptive of current fertility trends in the United States?

A) An increasing fraction of babies born are Hispanic.
B) High levels of cohabitation are depressing the birth rate.
C) Teenage birth rates are declining.
D) The average age at motherhood is increasing.

Question 16

The impact of China's One-Child Policy on that country's fertility level can best be described as:

A) having provided the initial impetus for a fertility decline.
B) allowing China to mirror similar fertility declines among its neighbors.
C) facilitating an already existing decline in fertility
D) important only because it accompanied measures of social equity.

Question 17

The available evidence suggests that the most widely used method of birth control in the world is:

A) the pill.
B) the condom.
C) voluntary abstinence.
D) abortion.

Question 18

Data on fertility intentions help to sort out the difference between:

A) timing and quantum of births.
B) gross and net reproduction.
C) general and age-specific rates.
D) proximate and distal determinants of fertility.

Question 19

Which of the following is the LEAST important proximate determinant of fertility in terms of its average effect on fertility levels?

A) Abortion
B) Age at entry into sexual unions
C) Voluntary abstinence
D) Breast-feeding

Question 20

The world's most prolific woman had 69 children, but the probable highest average number of children per woman for a whole society is about:

A) 7
B) 16
C) 23
D) 35

Question 21

The diffusion of ideas such as desired family size is enhanced by the existence of rigidly defined social
strata.

Question 22

The healthier a woman is, the later is the age at which she experiences menarche.

Question 23

Abortion rates tend to be highest when other methods of contraception are not readily available to women.

Question 24

Margaret Sanger's work revealed that contraception was known and practiced by western European women, but not by southern European women.

Question 25

The later a woman marries, the more children she is likely to have.

Question 26

Withdrawal is one of the more effective methods of fertility control for women who don't use the pill.

Question 27

The crude birth rate is called "crude" because it does not take into account the age and sex of people at risk of having a baby.

Question 28

The most dramatic decline in fertility in the recent past has been in East Asia.

Question 29

The opportunity costs of children change over time as social circumstances change.

Question 30

The United Kingdom is one of the few European countries in which fertility has recently risen above replacement level.