Demographic

FERTILITY LEVELS, TRENDS, AND DIFFERENTIALS 4Dudu Dlamini4.1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter looks at a number of fertility indicators, including levels, patterns, and trends in bothcurrent and cumulative fertility; the length of birth intervals; and the age at which women initiatechildbearing. Information on current and cumulative fertility is essential in monitoring population growth.The data on birth intervals are important since short intervals are strongly associated with childhoodmortality. The age at which childbearing begins can also have a major impact on the health and wellbeingof both the mother and the child.Data on fertility were collected in several ways. Each woman was asked about all of the births shehad had in her lifetime. To ensure completeness of the responses, the duration, the month and year oftermination, and the result of the pregnancy were recorded for each pregnancy. In addition, questionswere asked separately about sons and daughters who live with the mother, those who live elsewhere, andthose who have died. Subsequently, a list of all births was recorded along with name, age if still alive, andage at death if dead. Finally, information was collected on whether women were pregnant at the time ofthe survey.4.2 CURRENT FERTILITYThe level of current fertility is one of the most importanttopics in this report because of its direct relevance to populationpolicies and programmes. Current fertility can be measured usingthe age-specific fertility rate (ASFR), the total fertility rate (TFR),the general fertility rate (GFR), and the crude birth rate (CBR). TheASFR provides the age pattern of fertility, while the TFR refers tothe number of live births that a woman would have had if she weresubject to the current ASFRs throughout the reproductive ages (15-49 years). The GFR is expressed as the number of live births per1,000 women of reproductive age, and the CBR is expressed as thenumber of live births per 1,000 population. The measures of fertilitypresented in this chapter refer to the period of three years prior to thesurvey. This generates a sufficient number of births to providerobust and current estimates.Table 4.1 depicts measures of current fertility for the threeyears preceding the survey for the country as a whole and by urbanand rural residence. These are the total fertility rate (TFR), generalfertility rate (GFR), and crude birth rate (CBR). The survey resultsindicate that the TFR for Swaziland for the three years preceding the2006-07 SDHS survey is 3.8 births per woman. As expected,fertility is considerably higher in rural areas (4.2 births per woman)than in urban areas (3.0 births per woman). As the ASFRs show, thepattern of higher rural fertility is prevalent in all age groups exceptage 40-49. The urban-rural difference in fertility is more pronouncedTable 4.1 Current fertilityAge-specific and total fertility rate, thegeneral fertility rate, and the crude birthrate for the three years preceding thesurvey, by residence, Swaziland 2006-07ResidenceAge group Urban Rural Total15-19 89 118 11120-24 163 219 20225-29 124 184 16530-34 113 182 15935-39 83 105 9940-44 31 30 3045-49 0 5 4TFR 3.0 4.2 3.8GFR 110 146 136CBR 31.9 31.0 31.1Note: Age-specific fertility rates are per1,000 women. Rates for age group 45-49may be slightly biased due to truncation.Rates are for the period 1-36 months priorto interview.TFR: Total fertility rate expressed perwomanGFR: General fertility rate expressed per1,000 womenCBR: Crude birth rate expressed per 1,000populationFertility Levels, Trends, and Differentials | 49