Final answer:
The first stage of Rostow's five-stage model of economic development is 'Traditional society', where the economy is agrarian with large families and limited external trade. Rostow's model depicts the transformation from rural to urban economies, leading to improved living standards and smaller family sizes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first stage of Rostow's five-stage model of economic development is Traditional society. This initial stage is characterized by a predominantly agrarian economy, limited technology, and minimal engagement in trade outside the local area. In this stage, large families are the norm, and the economy is heavily based on subsistence farming and fishing.
Economist Walt Rostow's model outlines that a country progresses through these stages to eventually become an advanced economy with a high level of consumption. According to Rostow, following the traditional society stage, a country would move on to stage two, the preconditions for take-off, where the society begins to develop more productive agriculture and to establish a manufacturing industry.
As a general trend identified by Rostow, societies transition from a rural agrarian economy to an urban consumer economy. This progression is accompanied by improved standards of living, smaller family sizes, and shifts in population from rural to urban areas as industrialization and urbanization take place.