Fertility in western countries (1870-1970) / by Patrick Festy.

Author
Festy, Patrick [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Bangkok : Population Division, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations, 1984.
Description
iii, 147 pages : illustrations ; 30 cm.

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Stokes Library - Wallace Hall (SPR) HB991 .F47 Browse related items Request

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    Summary note
    Between 1870 and 1970, fertility in Western countries moved through 3 successive stages: 1) natural fertility, 2) the demographic transition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and 3) the baby boom after the end of World War II. Towards the end of this period, a new fertility decline was beginning. Around 1870, most Western countries exhibited natural fertility, without contraception or abortion, in which fertility behavior does not vary according to family size. Only France and the US already showed controlled fertility characteristics. The diversity in birth rates in other countries was great, ranging from 45 in Canada to 30 in Switzerland. Age at marriage and legitimate fertility were the 2 factors responsible for the variation; the age structure of the population, the percentage married, and illegitimate births had little effect. However, these influences tended to balance each other; late marriages occurred more often where ligitimate fertility was high. A regulating mechanism was already appearing, ensuring a reasonable population growth rate--a feature absent in most developing countries today. Women born after 1850 had 5 or 6 children; women born 1900-1910 had fewer than 2.5 children. During the 1930s, psychological and social factors affecting fertility become more important than physiological ones. The duration of marriage or family size becomes more important than maternal age in legitimate fertility. It is difficult to separate the influences of the availability of contraception and falling desired family size, which occurred at about the same time in the 1960s; some researchers give more weight to intentions. The fertility recovery, the baby boom, was unexpected. The principal common factor between countries is the regression in very small families and the stabilization or decrease in large families. The modal family size is clearly established at 2 or 3 children. Variations in the rate of family formation are an essential aspect in the fertility decline of the 1960s and 1970s. Fertility decline began in almost all Western countries in the 1960s; completed fertility decline appeared more gradually. The birth of a 3rd child is what makes the difference between countries. First and second births remain close to their ceiling. Fertility decline will continue to be influenced by birth spacing and changing attitudes towards marriage, divorce, and illegitimacy.
    Notes
    Translated by Erika Drucker from French to English in continuation of the French component of the ESCAP Population Studies tranlation series.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references.
    SuDoc no.
    ST/ESCAP/279
    LCCN
    87915701
    OCLC
    15359925
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