Fertility in Belgium declined early and remained low compared with that in other European countries. For this reason, and because of the nation's heterogeneity, study of its demographic transition illuminates the relationship between fertility behavior and socioeconomic development. Professor Lesthaeghe first describes the Belgian experience in a way that permits direct comparison with that of other European nations. He then tests the several explanatory hypotheses for the European fertility decline against his data. Belgium's heterogeneity in the nineteenth-century and in the first half of the twentieth was economic, social, and cultural. Some areas of the country underwent industrialization as early as 1800-1830, while others shifted away from agriculture and artisanal modes of production only between 1880 and 1910. Between 1890 and 1900, regional fertility levels differed drastically, as did regional infant mortality rates and life expectancies at birth. In addition, wide variation occurred in the process of secularization, linguistic characteristics, demographic trends, and other cultural indicators.
By describing and analyzing these data in relation to Belgium's fertility decline, Professor Lesthaeghe makes a major contribution to the theory of the demographic transition that occurred throughout Europe. Originally published in 1978. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
By:
Ron J. Lesthaeghe
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Volume: 1415
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 397g
ISBN: 9780691616186
ISBN 10: 0691616183
Series: Office of Population Research
Pages: 284
Publication Date: 08 March 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
*Frontmatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. vii*List of Maps and Figures, pg. ix*List of Tables, pg. xiii*Foreword, pg. xvii*Preface, pg. xix*CHAPTER 1: Introduction, pg. 1*CHAPTER 2: The Social and Economic Modernization, pg. 15*CHAPTER 3: The Evolution of Nuptiality, pg. 46*CHAPTER 4: The Transition of Marital, Illegitimate, and General Fertility, pg. 95*CHAPTER 5: Factors Associated with the Fertility. Decline-A First Approach, pg. 142*CHAPTER 6: Factors Associated with the Fertility. Decline-Multivariate Analyses, pg. 196*CHAPTER 7: Final Considerations, pg. 221*APPENDIX: The Quality of the Demographic Data, pg. 233*Index, pg. 253
