Demand Theories of the Fertility Transition: An Iconoclastic View
- 1 March 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Population Studies
- Vol. 41 (1) , 5-30
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0032472031000142516
Abstract
This paper challenges the widely held and influential view that the fertility transition is largely the consequence of changing parental demand for children brought about by changes in the economic costs and benefits entailed in childbearing. Using evidence from both historical and contemporary populations we argue that demand theories do not offer a plausible explanation of the fertility transition. Instead, we propose that ideational, rather than structural, economic change lies at the heart of the transition. In particular, we suggest that attitudes to birth control, broadly defined, play a crucial role.Keywords
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