Author
Méda, Dominique
Pailhé, Ariane
Type
Article accepté pour publication ou publié
Abstract (EN)
Since the end of the 1990s, France is
experiencing a “baby boom”. In 2006, the total
fertility rate was two children per woman: it is
very close to the “replacement level”. The article
tries to explain this French specificity. Since
1996, fertility at young ages has ceased to decline
and fertility at higher ages has continued to
increase. One explanation of these high fertility
rates is the low proportion of women without
child and the fact that French women are more
numerous than women from other countries
among those who give birth to a first child, and to
give birth to a second and to a third child. Four
great reasons might explain the French
singularity: the active family policy; the
development of écoles maternelles; the measures
to promote reconciliation between work and
family and the fact that French people give great
importance to the family.