Total fertility rate meaning – UGC NET Question

Total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the average number of children a woman would have if she experienced the current age specific fertility rates throughout her reproductive life. It is a synthetic measure that summarises fertility behaviour in a single number. Because the stem describes this average across reproductive years,the correct term is total fertility rate.

Option A:
Crude birth rate measures the number of live births per thousand population in a year. It does not reflect age specific fertility patterns or lifetime childbearing of women. Therefore it does not match the detailed description in the question.

Option B:
Infant mortality rate is the number of deaths of infants under one year per thousand live births in a given year. It is a mortality indicator rather than a fertility measure. Hence it cannot be the correct answer.

Option C:
Sex ratio indicates the proportion of males and females in a population. It tells us about gender balance but not about the average number of children born to women. Thus it is unrelated to the concept defined in the stem.

Option D:
Total fertility rate directly addresses the hypothetical number of children per woman across her reproductive span,assuming prevailing fertility rates. This aligns exactly with the definition given in the question.