How do social factors affect a population's birth rate? (sociology)?

Question

How do social factors affect a population's birth rate?

Answer 1

Well anything can affect the birth rate, here are a few examples...

The economy - unemployment, wages etc - if people cannot find work, or well paid work they may put off having children until they are more secure.

The political situation - in times of unrest people may not want to have children, or the policies of the government may encourage / discourage them - for example, maternity leave & laws, the amount of medical care they receive, support after the birth, etc.

Social - attitudes towards women / parenthood - cultural norms can all affect the birth rate.  In countries were women are expected to give up work and be a homemaker, the fertility rate is dropping, whereas those that encourage people to combine work and family have steady or slightly rising fertility rates.  Plus, the availability and attitudes to birth control can play a part - where it is freely available, the fertility rate will begin to fall.

Demography - different ethnicities have different fertility levels, although these balance out within 1 - 2 generations of the person arriving in the country.  Also highly educated people (particularly women) tend to have less children on average than those without a college / university education.  

These are all I can think of for now - I hope some of them helped! :-)