Fertility tables in the Human Fertility Database: construction and illustrations

Aiva Jasilioniene, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Tomas Sobotka, Vienna Institute of Demography
Evgueni Andreev, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Dmitri A. Jdanov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Kryštof Zeman, Vienna Institute of Demography
Vladimir Shkolnikov, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Joshua R. Goldstein, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

The Human Fertility Database (HFD) has been created following the example of the Human Mortality Database (HMD). Life table method applied in the HMD is well known, thoroughly described in the literature and widely used among demographers and other researchers. Meanwhile, fertility tables, which are featured in the HFD, are much less familiar and their methodology is not standardized. We explain in detail the procedure for building cohort and period fertility tables specific for age and parity. We show how each table function is computed and how selected summary indicators are derived. In addition, we provide illustrations based on the cohort and period fertility tables and indicators in the HFD, which demonstrate their practical usefulness and help to get a better insight into their functions and their interpretation. These standardized sets of fertility tables in the HFD aim to facilitate new fertility research and make a significant contribution to comparative fertility analysis.