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General Fertility Rate
The General Fertility Rate is the birth rate of women of child-bearing
age (ages 15-44). While births to women less than 15 or more 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 1998, for example, births to these women represented
only about one-half 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.
The general fertility rate is calculated by dividing the total number of
births in a given year by the number of women aged 15 through 44 and
multiplying by 1,000. For example, in 1998, there were a total of 36,831
live births to the residents of Arkansas. It is estimated that there were
545,749 women aged 15 through 44 in the state. Therefore, the General
Fertility Rate = (36,831 / 545,749) X 1,000 = 67.5 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 1998. By way of comparison, the general
fertility rate for the United States in 1998 was 65.6 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.
The average general fertility rate was 66.5 for the period 1994 through 1998.
There is, however, substantial variation in these rates throughout the state.
The highest fertility rates are clustered in eastern Arkansas in ADH Health
Management Area 9, as well as in several counties along the western edge of
the state. For the 1994-1998 period, general fertility rates averaged
from a low of 49.9 in Calhoun County to a high of 91.1 in Phillips County.
The high and low averages in the Health Management Areas for the same time
period, were 77.1 in Area 9 and 60.2 in Area 10.
General fertility rate varies a great deal by race. General fertility for
White women was 63.4 for the five-year period, while Black women had a much
higher rate of 77.9.
The Arkansas general fertility rate increased slightly in 1998, rising from
67.3 to 67.5, and has been gradually climbing since 1993. The U.S. rate
remained roughly the same from 1997 to 1990, moving from 52.3 to 51.1.
Typically, the state General Fertility Rate has paralleled that of the U.S.
and both have remained fairly constant since 1980.
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