Abstract
China’s total fertility rate (TFR) has remained below replacement level since the early 1990s. The latest 2010 population census registered a new record low fertility of 1.18. Does this reflect reality or is it another “false statistic”? This chapter conducts a comparative analysis between the latest fertility statistics and those in the past in order to find where and why fertility has fallen. The findings indicate that the very low fertility rate reported in the 2010 census cannot simply be attributed to possible underreporting of births; rather it reflects the real level of China’s fertility even after accounting for underreporting.
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Guo, Z. (2016). Understanding Fertility Trends in China. In: Guilmoto, C., Jones, G. (eds) Contemporary Demographic Transformations in China, India and Indonesia. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24783-0_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24783-0_6
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