The Trend of Fertility in Prince Edward Island

Abstract

Rapid and continuous decline in the size of the human family has been widespread during the last half-century. The main facts are widely known. A brief summary will serve as an introduction to what follows.In most European countries a period of continuous decline in the birth-rate began about 1870. In France the decline began much earlier, in eastern European countries somewhat later. We find the same picture, varying only in time of origin and tempo, in the United States of America, the British Dominions, Russia, and probably in Japan. A precise measure of the trend in terms of gross and net reproduction rates cannot be given over a long period, but the changes in these measures are available for several countries from 1911 to 1931. The drop in the gross reproduction rate in these twenty years was 50 per cent in Sweden, 38 per cent in Denmark, 37 per cent in England and Wales. In Australia it was 41 per cent between 1912 and 1933. Studies of smaller population units reveal the same trend. Among the counties of England and Wales, the smallest percentage decrease between 1911 and 1931 was 18 per cent. In Scotland a few counties showed smaller percentage decreases, the smallest being 11 per cent.