Vital rates refer to how fast vital statistics change in a population (usually measured per 1000 individuals). There are 2 categories within vital rates: crude rates and refined rates.
Crude rates measure vital statistics in a general population (overall change in births and deaths per 1000).
Refined rates measure the change in vital statistics in a specific demographic (such as age, sex, race, etc.).
Famous quotes containing the words vital and/or rates:
“The demand for equal rights in every vocation of life is just and fair; but, after all, the most vital right is the right to love and be loved.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)
“Families suffered badly under industrialization, but they survived, and the lives of men, women, and children improved. Children, once marginal and exploited figures, have moved to a position of greater protection and respect,... The historic decline in the overall death rates for children is an astonishing social fact, notwithstanding the disgraceful infant mortality figures for the poor and minorities. Like the decline in death from childbirth for women, this is a stunning achievement.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)