Fertility in Tulkarm Goverment (levels and trends in the Palestinian National Authority)

This study aims to address and identify the levels of fertility and its trends in the Government of Tulkarm and to study the social, economical and demographic factors that affect it. This study depended on a random, stratified sample that included 529 married women in Tulkarm Government . The Government was divided into four parts (the city itself, the municipalities, the villages, and the refugee camps). In addition to the field survey that the researcher has conducted in 2008, the study depended on data of the Central Bureau of Statistics that were derived from the census, the demographic surveys, the family medical surveys and population brochures. To achieve the objectives of this study, the researcher used statistical analysis in order to achieve a quantitative measurement of the variables. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter included an introduction and a geographic overview of Tulkarm as well as the importance of the study, the objectives and a summary of previous studies that addressed the same issue. In the second chapter, however, the researcher studied the demographic characteristics of the population in Tulkarm and found that age structure of this city indicates that the society of Tulkarm is a young one with more than 42.5% of the population being under 15 years old. The gender structure of the population showed that there are 103 males for 100 females. When the researcher studied the marital status of the population, it turned out that 45.1% of the married are males, while 49% were females. Widowed males are 5.8% of the population while widowed females are 5.6%. Average age at the first marriage was 25.8 years old for males while 20 years old for females. In the third chapter, the researcher studied the levels of fertility and the factors that affect it. It turned out that birth rate reached 31.3, general fertility rate 151.2, total fertility rate 5.7, while the total fertility average was 2.62. The researcher also found that age at the first marriage experience, the mother's current age, the period of marriage and the educational level of the couples greatly affect a woman's fertility. In the fourth chapter, the study focused on discussing fertility trends and the factors that affect it; those factors include: the mother's current age, period of marriage, and the educational level have a great impact on the number of children that a woman desires to have. The final chapter included the most important results and recommendations that the researcher has reached through this work.