(Image taken from Google)
According to the Central Intelligence Agency, fertility rate is defined as the average number of children that a woman gives birth to if she lives to the end of her childbearing years measured in per 1000 women in the population. Fertility rates are indicators to demographic, economic, and educational changes in countries.
As of 2014, the CIA updated fertility rate in Mexico to be 2.29 children born per women, which is the lowest it has ever been. According to Figure 1, fertility rate has been gradually decreasing since the 1960s which is an improvement for the country.
There are two factors that correlates with fertility rates in countries: reproductive health services and women's current status in the country (Seager, 2009). Countries that provide reproductive health issues including liberalization of abortion laws, set a trend towards decreasing fertility rate because women have agency to make decisions on their body and are insured by the country's reproductive health care system. In addition, Seager (2009) explains that "incremental improvements in women's status and autonomy" is a factor in decreasing fertility rates because having independence and equality for women can increase their agency. In The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World by Joni Seager, the averages for fertility rate in Mexico is between 2.2 and 4 compared to its neighbor, the United States, which is 2.1 or fewer below replacement level. Mexico has improved because the "averaged number of births per woman dropped at least half between early 1970s and early 2000s" (Seager, 2009).
Gender balance is very important because it determines the social statuses of men and women in each country. Referring to fertility rate, men often want more children than women. Understanding and coming to an agreement on how many children the woman wants to have is very important because it will establish balance in the household and an improvement in women's status.