Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2001-2002 - Measure DHS

FERTILITY4Richard Banda and Margaret T. MwanamwengeThis chapter presents the 2001-2002 ZDHS results on fertility levels, trends, and differentials.The analysis is based on the birth histories collected from women age 15-49 interviewed during thesurvey. To obtain this information, women were first asked a series of questions to determine the totalnumber of live births they had in their lifetime. Second, for each live birth, information was collected onthe age, sex, and survival status of the child. For dead children, age at death was recorded. Informationfrom the birth history is used to assess current and completed fertility and to look at other factors relatedto fertility, including age at first birth, birth intervals, and teenage childbearing.The following measures of current fertility are derived from birth history data:• Age-specific fertility rates (ASFR) are expressed as the number of births per thousandwomen in the age group and represent a valuable measure for assessing the current agepattern of childbearing. They are defined in terms of the number of live births during aspecified period to women in the particular age group divided by the number of womanyearslived in that age group during the specified period.• Total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the total number of births a woman would haveby the end of her childbearing period if she were to pass through those years bearingchildren at the currently observed rates of age-specific fertility. The TFR is obtained bysumming the age-specific fertility rates and multiplying by five.• General fertility rate (GFR) is the number of live births occurring during a specifiedperiod per 1,000 women of reproductive age.• Crude birth rate (CBR) is the number of births per 1,000 population during a specifiedperiod.The various measures of current fertility are calculated for the three-year period just prior to thesurvey, which roughly corresponds to the calendar period 1999-2001. This period was chosen because itreflects the current situation while also allowing the rates to be calculated without compromising thestatistical precision of estimates.4.1 FERTILITY LEVELS AND TRENDS4.1.1 Fertility LevelsTable 4.1 presents information on the current fertility levels for Zambia as a whole and for urbanand rural areas. According to the 2001-2002 ZDHS results, the total fertility rate is 5.9 (Table 4.1). Thismeans that the average Zambian woman who is at the beginning of her childbearing years will give birthto 5.9 children by the end of her reproductive period if fertility levels remain constant at the levelobserved in the three-year period before the 2001-2002 ZDHS.The TFR from the 2001-2002 ZDHS is almost the same as that from the 2000 Census ofPopulation and Housing, which stands at 6.0. The general fertility rate is 204. This means that there were204 births for every 1,000 women during the three-year period preceding the survey. The table alsoshows a crude birth rate of 43.3 per 1,000 population for the period under review.Fertility │ 55