How many children and how many siblings in France in the last century ?

T he baby-boom of the 20th century was a unique and major demographic event. In France, after having steadily declined in the 1920s and 1930s, the period total fertility rate (box 1) suddenly rose between 1945 and 1947 (see figure 1). It remained high for about twenty years, and then, in 1964, it began to decline again, ending the baby-boom in France as well as in most industrialized countries. Since 1975, TFR has remained more or less stable in France at around 1.8 children per woman. The most fertile women of the century were those born in 1930 How did the different cohorts of the 20th century experience the baby boom? Women born in 1900 are not concerned: they were 45 by the end of World War II and had their children between 1920 and 1950. The same is true for women born in 1950: they were fifteen in 1965 and had their children after the baby boom. On the other hand, those born in 1930 were 15 in 1945 and 35 in 1965, which means they were involved in the baby boom. Their completed fertility was over 2.6 children on average, which is 0.5 more than women born in 1900 or 1950 (see figure 1). The lifetime fertility of the next cohorts, those born between 1950 and 1960, has settled at an average of around 2.1 children. Fertility under age 25 has considerably declined, but it has increased above that age, with one trend offsetting the other. However, this compensation may be incomplete for the more recent cohorts and the lifetime fertility could decline slightly, stabilizing perhaps at about 2 children among women * Institut national d'études démographiques. born after 1970. Women born in 1970 had one child on average before the age of 30; if fertility continues to rise among older women, they will have a second child after the age of 30. A sharp increase in the age of mothers at childbirth Women born between 1940 and 1945 were the youngest mothers of the 20th century (see box 2). They had their children at 26.1 years on average, against 28.4 years for women born in 1920 (figure 2). At the age of 25, two out of three already had one child. On average, Editorial – How many children and how many siblings in France in the last century? • The most fertile women of the century were …