Mid-20th-century baby boom

Long ago, many babies were born in a short time. This was called a baby boom. It started after a big war ended.

Many people got married during this time. Because of this, more families had children. This happened in many lands around the world.

In the United States, the boom was very large. Many more babies were born than before. It changed how many people lived.

Some families had two children. Other families had even more. This made many groups of people grow fast.

Later, the number of babies began to drop. This was called a baby bust. It was a big change for the world.

A baby boom is when many babies are born in a short time. This happened in many lands after World War II. People born during this time are called baby boomers.

Many things caused this change. More people got married during these years. This is called a marriage boom. In the United States, the boom was very large. In 1946, many more babies were born than in the years before. By 1954, more than four million babies were born each year. This meant four out of ten Americans were under age 20.

Experts have different ideas about why this happened. One idea is about money. Some think families had more kids because jobs were easy to find. Others think new tools in the home helped. These tools made it easier to care for children. In some places, like France, the government helped too.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the number of births fell. This is called a baby bust. This happened for many reasons. In Canada, it happened later because of new birth control. In the United Kingdom, the fall happened after a new law was passed in 1967.

A baby boom is a time when many babies are born very quickly. This happened in many countries after World War II ended. People born during this special time are called baby boomers. This era was marked by a huge increase in fertility rates. This means more women were having children than in previous years. In many Western countries, this period also saw a marriage boom. More people chose to get married during these years.

Several things changed to make this boom happen. Many families had fewer children without any children at all. Many families also moved from having one child to having two. However, many families did not go on to have a third child. This led to family sizes becoming more similar across the board. The boom was most common among women who were educated. It was also very common among women who worked.

Experts have many different ideas about why this occurred. Economist Richard Easterlin suggested a theory about relative income. He thought families had more kids because jobs were easy to find. He also thought people had less desire for material goods after the Great Depression. Other experts, like Jan Van Bavel, looked at marriage rates. They believed the marriage boom was a main cause. They thought new ways of preventing pregnancy were not yet common.

In the United States, the boom was truly massive. In 1946, live births jumped from 222,721 in January to 339,499 in October. By the end of the 1940s, about 32 million babies were born. In 1954, births topped four million for the first time. By 1965, four out of ten Americans were under age 20. In Canada, the boom lasted until 1966. This was because birth control pills were used later there.

This era changed how people lived their daily lives. In the U.S., many women felt pressure to marry young. Some even joked about women getting a "MRS degree" in college. The boom also created a high demand for babysitters. In California, a couple might spend most of their movie money on a sitter. In the 1960s and 1970s, the number of births fell. This new period is called the baby bust.

A baby boom is a period of significant and persistent increases in fertility rates. Fertility rate refers to the number of live births occurring in a population. This phenomenon occurred in many countries during the middle of the 20th century. It was especially common in the Western world following World War II. People born during this era are known as the baby boom generation, or baby boomers. This period was often accompanied by a marriage boom, where many more people chose to marry.

The mechanism behind the boom involved specific changes in how families were structured. There was a notable decrease in childlessness among the population. Many families also showed an increase in parity progression to a second child. Parity progression describes the likelihood of a woman having another child after her first. However, in most Western nations, the progression to a third child or beyond actually declined. This combination of factors led to higher homogeneity in family sizes. This means that family sizes became more similar across different groups of people.

Demographers and economists have proposed several different theories to explain these shifts. Economist Richard Easterlin proposed the "relative income" theory. He suggested that the boom was driven by high relative income during the late 1940s and 1950s. This was caused by plentiful job opportunities in the post-war period and a lower desire for material objects following the Great Depression. Conversely, Jan Van Bavel and David S. Reher argued that the marriage boom and low efficiency of contraception were the primary drivers. They noted that the connection between economic growth and birth rates was not always consistent.

Other researchers have looked at different social and economic causes. Matthias Doepke and his colleagues argued that women who worked during World War II stayed in the labor force. They suggested this might have crowded out other women from the workforce. Glenn Sandström disagreed, using data from Sweden to show the boom was limited to economically active women. Some researchers, like Greenwood, Seshadri, and Vandenbroucke, suggested that new household appliances reduced the costs of raising children. However, other scholars criticized this, noting that the Amish also experienced the baby boom despite having different technology.

The baby boom varied significantly by geographic region. In Europe, France and Austria experienced some of the strongest booms. In France, pro-natalist policies, which are government programs designed to encourage births, were a major factor. The United Kingdom saw two distinct waves of births. The first peaked in 1946, and a second wave occurred during the 1960s. In Ireland, the boom was prolonged due to restrictive laws regarding contraception. In Latin America, the magnitude of the boom was largest in Costa Rica and Panama.

In North America, the scale of the boom was massive. In the United States, live births surged from 222,721 in January 1946 to 339,499 in October of that same year. By the end of the 1940s, approximately 32 million babies had been born in the U.S. In 1954, annual births exceeded four million for the first time. This trend continued until 1965, at which point four out of ten Americans were under the age of 20. In Canada, the boom lasted longer, ending around 1966. This delay was attributed to the later adoption of birth control pills.

This era had profound effects on social life and the economy. In the United States, traditional gender roles led to increased pressure on women to marry by age 20. This led to the joke that women attended college to earn an "MRS degree." The high number of children also created a massive demand for childcare. In California, for example, a couple might spend $5 out of every $7 spent on movies just to pay for a babysitter. Eventually, the era of high fertility ended. In the 1960s and 1970s, birth rates declined significantly. Demographers call this subsequent period the "baby bust."