The most common and simplest form of business is a sole proprietorship. Many small businesses operating in the United States are sole proprietorships. An individual proprietor owns and manages the business and is responsible for all business transactions. The owner is also personally responsible for all debts and liabilities incurred by the business.
The current total fertility rate for the world is 2.5. Influencing this are countries that have TFRs of 6 and higher such as Niger (7.6), Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.3), and Uganda (6.2).
In much of the developing world, demographic change has contributed to economic growth and reductions in poverty. Over the last 40 years, women are having fewer children, from 4.7 children per woman in 1970 to an average of 2.5 children today. Total fertility rates (TFRs) range from 1.1 in Taiwan to 7.4 in Niger. In 1970, just under one-half (48 percent) of the world's population was younger than 20, a nearly equal percentage was ages 20 to 64, and only 5 percent was 65 and older.