The Fertility of the French-Canadian Women During the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

The French-Canadian censuses of 1666-1667, and 1681 are analyzed to throw light on the alleged phenomenal fertility of the early settlers. The crude birth rate,total fertility rate, gross reproduction rate, and fertility ratios were all exceptionally high, but marital fertility rates were approximately at the level of similar rates in several European countries during the following two centuries. This suggests that the apparent high fertility is largely attributable to the high frequency and early age of marriage.