GLOSSARY
Age-specific fertility rates
Age-specific fertility rates (ASFR) are the number of live births (occurred or registered) during the calendar year, according to the age of the mother, per 1,000 of the female estimated resident population of the same age at 30 June. For calculating these rates, births to mothers under 15 years are included in the 15-19 years age group, and births to mothers aged 50 years and over are included in the 45-49 years age group. Pro rata adjustment is made for births for which the age of the mother is not given.
Baby boom
Baby boom refers to the generation born between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s. Baby boomers are usually taken to be those born in the years 1946 to 1965 inclusive.
Birth
The delivery of a child, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, who, after being born, breathes or shows any evidence of life such as a heartbeat.
Childbearing ages
See Reproductive lifetime.
Completed cohort fertility rate
The average number of live births that a woman born in a particular year has had by the end of her reproductive life.
Multiple birth
A multiple birth is a confinement which results in two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.
Parity
Parity refers to the number of live births a woman has had previous to the most recent birth. Parity is also an attribute of any live birth, being the order of that birth (e.g. first birth, second birth, and so on) of a woman.
Parity-age-duration total fertility rate
The sum of age-parity-duration specific fertility rates. This measure of fertility takes into account age of mother, parity and duration since previous birth.
Previous births
Previous births refer to children born alive (who may or may not be living) to a mother prior to the registration of the current birth in the processing period. In some states, legitimised and legally adopted children may also be included.
Due to variation in data collection and processing methods across states and territories, different definitions of the concept of previous births have been applied.
Changes in ABS processing of data collected by state/territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages for 2007 have resulted in the availability of improved information on previous births to mothers. Prior to 2007, ABS published information on previous births of the mother from the current relationship only, for all states and territories. From 2007, data on previous births for all relationships (both current and previous, if any) of the mother are collected for all states and territories, excluding Victoria and Queensland.
Previous children
See Previous births.
Reproductive lifetime
Women's childbearing years, usually assumed as the ages from 15 to 49 years for the purpose of analysis. In this publication, births to women less than 15 years are included in the 15 years age group and those 50 years and older are included in the 49 years age group.
Tempo standardised period total fertility rate
A measure which removes the effects of timing changes from the trend in the total fertility rate.
Total fertility rate
The sum of age-specific fertility rates (live births at each age of mother per female population of that age). It represents the number of children a female would bear during her lifetime if she experienced current age-specific fertility rates at each age of her reproductive life.
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