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Time-period versus generation: how should trends in fertility be measured

Time-period versus generation: how should trends in fertility be measured
Time-period versus generation: how should trends in fertility be measured
This paper starts by presenting the contrast between two approaches to depicting time-trends in fertility - the period and cohort perspectives - and discusses why it is that the existence of two approaches presents a problem for fertility analysis. It then considers the arguments for and against the period and cohort approaches to representing fertility trends. The conclusion reached is that there are clear grounds for preferring the period approach to the cohort perspective, but that the period measures currently used to depict fertility trends are defective and need to be replaced. I go on to examine what the criteria are for a sensible system of measurement for period fertility and present a (partly) new approach to constructing fertility indicators that meets these requirements. Recent trends in fertility in Ireland are considered briefly in the context of the potential uses of data collected by the current Irish birth registration system. Finally, some objections to the view advocated in the paper are discussed. The paper’s aims are, thus, both destructive and constructive, arguing against the currently conventional approach and suggesting an alternative system of measurement.
0081-4776
235-290
Ní Bhrolcháin, Máire
c9648b58-880e-4296-a173-7241449e0078
Ní Bhrolcháin, Máire
c9648b58-880e-4296-a173-7241449e0078

Ní Bhrolcháin, Máire (1996) Time-period versus generation: how should trends in fertility be measured. Journal of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland, XXVII, 235-290.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper starts by presenting the contrast between two approaches to depicting time-trends in fertility - the period and cohort perspectives - and discusses why it is that the existence of two approaches presents a problem for fertility analysis. It then considers the arguments for and against the period and cohort approaches to representing fertility trends. The conclusion reached is that there are clear grounds for preferring the period approach to the cohort perspective, but that the period measures currently used to depict fertility trends are defective and need to be replaced. I go on to examine what the criteria are for a sensible system of measurement for period fertility and present a (partly) new approach to constructing fertility indicators that meets these requirements. Recent trends in fertility in Ireland are considered briefly in the context of the potential uses of data collected by the current Irish birth registration system. Finally, some objections to the view advocated in the paper are discussed. The paper’s aims are, thus, both destructive and constructive, arguing against the currently conventional approach and suggesting an alternative system of measurement.

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More information

Published date: 1996
Additional Information: Read before the Society, 16 May 1996

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 190301
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/190301
ISSN: 0081-4776
PURE UUID: 42a637f7-9dc9-4f3c-9b78-6f01a2eb1986

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Date deposited: 15 Jun 2011 15:44
Last modified: 10 Dec 2021 19:23

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Contributors

Author: Máire Ní Bhrolcháin

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