Some demographic consequences of changing cohort fertility patterns: An investigation using the Gompertz function

Abstract In this paper are formulated some convenient summary measures of fertility patterns. These measures, which are based on the Gompertz function, are total lifetime fertility, median age of mothers at childbirth, and inter-quartile range of age of mothers at childbirth. Estimates of the parameters of Gompertz function, based on Canadian data, are used to derive, for each of the summary measures, values which reflect historical fertility …