What is infant mortality rate?
For every thousand babies, how many of them die before they reach the age of 1? In the rich countries, on the average, about six babies die out of 1,000 being born, before they reach the age of one. In the poor countries, 59 babies die out of 1,000 being born. That’s almost 10 times higher. So there’s a much higher chance that one of those three children that women have, on the average in the poor countries, is going to be dead before it reaches the age of one. And there’s much higher child mortality too: deaths before the age of five. So if women want to end up with one or two children, to protect them in their old age, in the developing countries, the poor countries today, women need to have more children because a child’s chance of survival is significantly lower than it is in the rich countries. There are other factors. You asked a simple question and the answer is long and complicated. The alternatives available to women in the poor countries for the use of their time are more lim
