Why isnt it just 2? What factors make up the 0.1?
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If everyone only had 1 child, then that would only replace 1 of the parents, meaning by the time the parents passed, the population would have a net decrease of 1. If everyone had 3 children, that would replace the parents and leave one extra, meaning when the parents passed, the population would have a net growth of 1. If everyone has 2 children, that would perfectly replace the parents. When the parents pass, the net change on population would be 0.
The extra .1 is there because we also need to account for the fact that some people will pass away before having children, so in order to replace those people, another family will need to pick up the slack and have 3 children instead of just 2. Assuming the 2.1 number you gave is accurate, then that .1 is accounting for the rate at which people pass away without having children. It would mean the *average* of all families having children should be 2.1. Some families could have more while others could have less.
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