Changes in the reproductive behavior in East Germany (1970-1979) in connection with measures of family policy. I
Fritsche, U.
Zeitschrift für Arztliche Fortbildung 75(10): 489-492
1981
ISSN/ISBN: 0044-2178 PMID: 7314666 Document Number: 171612
Methods of differentiated fertility analysis, demonstrated with the example of birth development in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), can be taken as a further step for the quantification of changes in the population reproduction level, and of the effects of sociopolitical measures on movements in birth incidence and reproduction level. The influence of number and age structure of women of childbearing age, and the shift of birth dates on observed birth incidence within a certain period, is explained and demonstrated with the birth development of the 70s in the GDR. The age-specific fertility number is critically assessed as a measurement for the evaluation of the population reproduction level. As discriminating method for the estimation of the reproduction level, including its modification in relation to sociopolitical measures, the "realized number of children per woman" is up for discussion and reference is made to the partial computation of cohort fertility. The birth-stimulating effect of the 1976 sociopolitical measures for the promotion of families with children is quantified; 0.1 more children/woman are born now during the woman's fertile phase corresponding to about 12,000 liveborn children/year.