La fécondité des populations rurales en Belgique (1880-1940) : Des comportements très diversifiés = The diversity of fertility behaviours in rural Belgium (1880-1940)
(2014) Espace populations sociétés — n° 1 (2014)
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- (en) This article analyses the evolution of fertility in Belgium's rural areas between 1880 and 1939. It examines the heterogeneity of behaviours throughout different rural zones, as well as the impact of structural disruptions during this period, such as World War I, the 1929 economic crisis and the emergence of totalitarian regimes. The analyses combine a classic period approach and a longitudinal approach based on retrospective data from the 1961 and 1981 population censuses. Unlike the typical assumption of rural homogeneity, our analyses show that fertility behaviours vary considerably among different rural zones. Certain rural zones were among the pioneers of fertility transition in Belgium; others were marked by a late but quick fertility decline; finally, some zones experienced a late transition with fertility declining slowly through the years. Whereas the impact of World War I is hardly noticed on fertility curves, the 1929 crisis had clear effects on demographic indicators. Age at marriage and at childbearing increased within the concerned birth cohorts, whereas the cohort fertility decreased. The intensity of these effects varies throughout the different rural zones in Belgium.
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Eggerickx, T., Sanderson, J.-P., & Costa, R. (2014). La fécondité des populations rurales en Belgique (1880-1940) : Des comportements très diversifiés = The diversity of fertility behaviours in rural Belgium (1880-1940). Espace populations sociétés, 1. https://doi.org/10.4000/eps.5684 (Original work published 2014)