Fécondité et âge de fin d’études en France depuis 1975 [L’évolution au fil des générations des facteurs traditionnels de la fécondité]

Abstract

Fertility and end-of-study age in France since 1975. Change down the generations of traditional fertility factors. Fertility characteristics have changed enormously in France over the last decades. The current indicator of fertility shows a fall from 2,9 to 1,9 children per woman whilst the average age of motherhood has risen by almost three years. In this study, the authors are hoping to assess to what extent traditional fertility factors – presence or not of a partner, factors in relation to the mother’s activity, age, time period following final studies, social position and the age of the last child– are likely to reflect observed changes. The importance of the factors generally used to measure fertility would thus be considerably modified, as it is the period of time after studies have been completed that is the main factor in determining births for the generation born after the 1960s. This article is the first step, still in the finalisation stage, in using variables relating to the job situation of mothers, which the INSEE employment studies used here show.