The Australian Bureau of Statistics regrets any unintended distress and offence that completing the question asking each female 'How many babies has she ever given birth to?', may have caused, and to provide further detail of why the question is included in the Census.
While we have attempted to improve the question in the past, there has unfortunately been no opportunity to change the wording of any questions between the 2006 and 2011 Censuses.
We appreciate the feedback that we have received and the Australian Bureau of Statistics will take this into consideration for the next Census in 2016. Although it is unlikely that the requirements around collecting information on live born babies will change due to international convention, we do seek to obtain this information in the most sensitive way.
This question is asked by the ABS to allow analysis of the changing trends of the contribution of births to Australia’s population growth. The rate of this contribution is generally referred to as a ‘fertility rate’, however, in the context of the Census question we are referring to fertility as a demographic concept, rather than a person’s biological ability to conceive. Similarly, the reference to ‘births’ in this context refers to the number of babies contributing to population growth, rather than the process of giving birth to a baby. These are unfortunate conventions, and although we have described them in the explanatory material provided with the Census, we still recognise that the use of these terms may upset or offend some people.
None of this should be taken to mean that babies that pass away before or during birth are not important. They are incredibly precious to their families, and are included in official statistics.
Additional information is included below, which further describes the background to why this question appears in the Census.
There will be an opportunity for further consultation, research and testing of the question wording before the next Census in 2016. In late 2012, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will call for submissions in preparation for the 2016 Census and invite public comment on changes to the Census form. An information paper with more details about the submission process will be available at that time from the ABS website
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Demographic measures of fertility
There appears to have been some misunderstanding of the Census Guide use of the terminology "measures of lifetime fertility". When demographers and population statisticians use the term fertility, it refers to a population's performance in replacing itself by reproduction. This terminology is reflected in the "Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System Revision 2" published by the United Nations Statistical Division (
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demograph..._M67Rev2en.pdf).
These demographic measures of "fertility" only include live born babies. Other statistical measures cover babies not born live (e.g. fetal deaths). There are also recommendations on collecting statistics on the number of live born babies who die within 28 days (neonatal deaths) and those children who die before they reach their first birthday (infant deaths). The ratios of fetal deaths and infant deaths to the number of live births in a year provide important indicators of the health of Australia's population. Consistent compilation of these statistics across the countries of the world provides a basis for international comparisons. Fortunately, Australia has a very low infant death rate.
The reasoning behind the distinction between live born babies and stillborn babies in demographic statistics can be described as follows (based on an explanation in the text book, "Demographic Methods" by A. Hinde). Individuals can be regarded as being in one of these states in their journey from conception to death:
a. Unborn
b. Live born and in the population
c. Live born and in some other population (e.g. living overseas)
d. Dead
Measuring transitions between these states is a core activity of demographic statistics. Live births record the movement from (a) unborn to (b) live born and in the population. International migration is movement from (b) to (c), and from (c) to (b). Deaths are the movement from (b) to (d). Because fetal deaths and miscarriages do not increase the live born population, they do not get accounted for in demographic calculations of the population. Rather, they are accounted for separately in studies of perinatal deaths and maternal health.
The term "fertility" is also commonly used to refer to the capacity to, or the occurrence of conceiving and becoming pregnant. However, it is the demographic measure of fertility which the Census question aims to measure. The question is not about how fertile women are, but how many live born babies each woman has borne during her life to the census date. Because Australia has such good quality death registration statistics and particularly perinatal statistics, it is not necessary to include a question on the Census on infant deaths. Some developing countries ask census questions of women on number of children now living and the number that have died, in conjunction with the question on the number of live born babies question.
Uses of the results
Questions are only included in the Census if there is a clear and justified use for the resulting statistics, otherwise it is a waste of financial resources and an unnecessary burden on the public to answer those questions. The data from the Census question is used, in part, to assess the effectiveness of a generation to replace itself through reproduction. This allows comparisons of lifetime fertility, that is, the average number of live born children each women has had at the end of their reproductive years (say aged 50 or more). It can also be used to study the average number of live born children women have had at various stages in their reproductive years (usually summarised as ages from 15 to 49 years).
These comparisons can be made across local areas and regions of Australia, for various cultural groups (birthplace, language spoken at home and religion), Indigenous and non-Indigenous and other socioeconomic characteristics. We also compare these data across various censuses to see how the trends have changed over time at specific ages, or for women born in a particular year or range of years. Together this information is used to project the likely trends in demographic fertility into the future and project the population of Australia and regions of Australia for a wide range of community decision making and planning.
An important question today is, do women who have deferred having children in their 20s eventually "catch-up" by the time they are in their 40s or 50s? How do these trends differ for women by their level of education, city versus rural areas, and other characteristics? Given the focus on Australia's demographic future with an ageing population and a total fertility rate currently below the level required to replace each generation, having reliable data available on these issues is important for community planning and government policy and program development purposes.
What other data are already available?
ABS reports the number of stillbirths (referred to as fetal deaths) annually based on perinatal death certificates and birth registrations lodged with the State and Territory Registrars of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The results are published in a Perinatal Deaths (Cat. No. 3304.0), which is freely available on the ABS website
Australian Bureau of Statistics.
There are comprehensive statistics collected by State and Territory health departments on all births (including fetal deaths of at least 20 weeks gestation or 400 grams weight) and neonatal deaths. The national results are collated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's (AIHW) National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit and published in the annual report Australia's Mothers and Babies - Perinatal Statistics Series No. 24 (Cat. No. PER 50).These reports are available free on the AIHW website
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
There are also a range of specific surveys on women's health, family formation and history and related topics.
The ABS has assessed that together, these data are ample for monitoring trends in stillbirths and perinatal deaths without including an additional question on the Census.
