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General Fertility Rate
The General Fertility Rate is the birth rate of women of childbearing
age (age 15-44). While births to women younger than 15 or older than
44 years are included in the general fertility rate, the population for
those ages are not. These births represent only a minute portion of
the total births. In 2001, for example, births to these women (134)
represented only about one-third of one percent of all births in the
state. These births are particularly important from a medical
perspective, but are not a significant proportion of the total.
Dividing the total number of births in a given year by the number of
women aged 15 through 44 and multiplying by 1,000 equals the general
fertility rate. For example, in 2001, there were a total of 36,982
live births to the residents of Arkansas. It is estimated that there
were 562,110 women aged 15 through 44 in the state. Therefore, the
General Fertility Rate = (36,982 / 562,110) X 1,000 = 65.8 births per
1,000 women 15-44. In other words, about one out of every 15 women of
child-bearing years in Arkansas gave birth in 2001. By way of
comparison, the general fertility rate for the United States in 2001
was 65.3 births per 1,000 women 15-44.
It should be noted that the calculation of the general fertility rate
is limited solely to live births. It is not a pregnancy rate and does
not include induced abortions, fetal deaths (stillbirths), or
spontaneous abortions (miscarriages).
The general fertility rate is the best overall indicator of
reproductive behavior and success. Another related statistic, the
crude birth rate, computed as the ratio of births to the total
population, is more affected by population differences in age and sex
ratio. Therefore the crude birth rate is a better measure of tax
burden and other economic statistics than the general fertility rate.
The two statistics are not comparable.
For the period 1997 through 2001, the average general fertility rate
for Arkansas was 65.9. There is substantial variation in fertility
rates throughout the state, however. The highest fertility rates are
clustered in eastern Arkansas bordering the Mississippi River, as well
as in four counties along the western edge of the state. For the
1997-2001 period, general fertility rates averaged from a low of 47.1
in Calhoun County to a high of 87.6 in Phillips County. The high and
low averages in the Public Health Regions for the same time period,
were 70.5 in the Southeast PHR and 63.4 in the Central PHR.
The general fertility rate varies a great deal by race. General
fertility for White women was 63.2 for the five-year period, while
Black women had a much higher rate of 67.8.
The Arkansas general fertility rate peeked in 2000 (67.1) and has
returned closer to normal in 2001 (65.8).
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