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The western fertility decline: Reflections from a chronological perspective

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Abstract

The study of recent fertility trends in the West has been dominated by examinations of Europe. A better perspective on twentieth-century fertility movements can be gained by giving an equal emphasis to trends in the ‘Offshoots’ (USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand). This paper focuses on the periods of rapid fertility decline and to a greater extent on the intervening periods of near-equilibrium. It is suggested that the ‘late twentieth century compromise’ is more stable than is suggested by reports on its internal strains, and that only massive government intervention could raise fertility.

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  1. Demography and Sociology Program, Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University, 0200, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    John C. Caldwell

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Correspondence to John C. Caldwell.

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Caldwell, J.C. The western fertility decline: Reflections from a chronological perspective. Journal of Population Research 23, 225–242 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03031817

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