Question 3. Table: Distribution of population 15-49 years and their births in 2015 in Ghana

Question

Age groups
Number of
Number of
Number of births in
Number of girls

 
women
men
age group
among births

15-19
12,249
11,850
421
213

20-24
11,181
11,150
1340
670

25-29
10,798
10,500
3832
1916

30-34
9,924
9,450
2252
1128

35-39
7,439
7,350
1083
560

40-44
6,484
6,157
611
310

45-49
5,584
5,138
250
131

Compute the Total Fertility Rate and the General Fertility Rate
Compute the sex ratio among the births of this year 2015
Why do we have small numbers at 15-19 and at 45-49 years?

Answer 1

To compute the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), we sum up the number of births in each age group and divide by the total number of women in the reproductive age group (15-49 years).

Total number of births = 421 + 1340 + 3832 + 2252 + 1083 + 611 + 250 = 9789
Total number of women in the reproductive age group = 12,249 + 11,181 + 10,798 + 9,924 + 7,439 + 6,484 + 5,584 = 63,659

TFR = Total number of births / Total number of women in reproductive age group
TFR = 9789 / 63,659 = 0.1534

To compute the General Fertility Rate (GFR), we sum up the number of births in each age group and divide by the total number of women aged 15-44 years (as 45-49 year olds are typically excluded from GFR calculations due to lower fertility rates in this age group).

Total number of women aged 15-44 = 12,249 + 11,181 + 10,798 + 9,924 + 7,439 + 6,484 = 58,075

GFR = Total number of births / Total number of women aged 15-44
GFR = 9789 / 58,075 = 0.1686

To compute the sex ratio among the births of 2015, we sum up the number of boys and girls born in each age group and calculate the ratio.

Total number of girls born = 213 + 670 + 1916 + 1128 + 560 + 310 + 131 = 5828
Total number of boys born = 421 + 1340 + 3832 + 2252 + 1083 + 611 + 250 = 6169

Sex ratio = Total number of boys born / Total number of girls born
Sex ratio = 6169 / 5828 = 1.0585

The small numbers at 15-19 and 45-49 years can be attributed to lower fertility rates in these age groups. Younger women (15-19) may have lower fertility rates due to factors such as education and access to contraception, while older women (45-49) may have lower fertility rates due to natural decline in fertility with age.