Question

Suppose that China’s population policy is modified so that every family could have children until either a boy is born or until a maximum of four children are born, whichever comes first. Assume that every family chooses to have as many children as possible under this policy, that multiple births are not figured in, and that boys and girls are equally likely at birth. What would be the average number of children per family for China? Describe how you arrived at your conclusion. (Hint: Start with 10,000 families and follow through to see how many total children there would be after all the children are born.)

Answer 1

1000