Two Successive Motivations for the Declining Birth Rate in the West

The renewed decline in the birth rate in the 1960s in the West represents the resumption of a century-long trend after the brief interlude of the baby boom. However the motivations behind the current smaller family size are quite different from those of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The decline in the birth rate that began at the end of the 18th century and continued until the 1930s was unleashed by heavy sentimental and financial investment in the child. The current decrease in the birth rate is provoked by exactly the opposite attitude: the days of the child king are over. The childs role in the familys plans and his affective role within the family increased between the end of the Middle Ages and the 18th century. Today it is diminishing. (Authors) (Summaries in ENG FRE SPA)