The average number of births to a cohort of women up to the end of the reproductive age period (estimated on the basis of the age-specific rates observed during a given period) is called:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Total Fertility Rate
Option (1) Fertility Rate — Incorrect. The fertility rate is the number of live births per 1000 women in the child-bearing age group, usually 15 to 49 years. It is a ‘crude’ rate, a rough average that does not take the differences across age groups into account.
Option (2) Birth Rate — Incorrect. The birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 population in a given area and time. It counts the whole population, not a cohort of women through their reproductive years.
Option (3) Total Fertility Rate — Correct. Because crude rates hide differences between age groups, demographers calculate age-specific rates. The total fertility rate adds them up: it is the number of children a woman would have if she lived through the reproductive age group and had the average number of babies in each segment of it. A TFR of 1.7 means that the average woman produces 1.7 children.
Option (4) Growth Rate of Population — Incorrect. The growth rate of population is the difference between the birth rate and the death rate. It measures how fast the whole population grows, not births per woman.
Note: The definition of the total fertility rate as ‘the average number of births to a cohort of women up to the end of the reproductive age period’, in the chapter ‘The Demographic Structure of the Indian Society’, was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. This definition has been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter is still there and still uses the total fertility rates (TFR) of the States.
NCERT (2025-26): “2.1 Some Theories and Concepts in Demography … The fertility rate refers to the number of live births per 1000 women in the child-bearing age group, usually taken to be 15 to 49 years. But like the other rates discussed on the previous page (the birth and death rates) this is a ‘crude’ rate – it is a rough average for an entire population and does not take into account the differences across agegroups. Differences across age groups can sometimes be very significant in affecting the meaning of indicators. That is why demographers also calculate age-specific rates.” “…Some states, like Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have managed to bring down their total fertility rates (TFR) to 1.7 each (2016). This means that the average woman in these states produces only 1.7 children, which is below the ‘replacement level’ and Kerala’s TFR is also below the replacement level, which means that the population is going to decline in future.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “2.1 Some Theories and Concepts in Demography … The total fertility rate refers to the total number of live births that a hypothetical woman would have if she lived through the reproductive age group and had the average number of babies in each segment of this age group as determined by the age-specific fertility rates for that area. Another way of expressing this is that the total fertility rate is the ‘the average number of births to a cohort of women up to the end of the reproductive age period (estimated on the basis of the age-specific rates observed during a given period)’ (Visaria and Visaria 2003).” |