I understand that many women will not have kids or will have only one kid, or that child mortality is involved but still a fertility rate of 2 means that ON AVERAGE every woman will have 2 kids. This means that every woman and man will be replaced, including the children that die young if the rate of 2 lasts (the newborn females will also have on average two kids). So why isn’t a fertility rate of 2 enough to replace the population?
In: 701
If each woman has exactly 2 children throughout the span of their reproductive lifetime, then the next generation will have less people able to reproduce simply because some of the children will die early and remove themselves from the running.
The additional amount above 2.0 is to account for this, which is why in developed countries replacement rates are as low as 2.1, but in developing countries with much higher mortality, replacement rates can be as high as 3.5.
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