La fécondité des populations rurales en Belgique (1880-1940)

Abstract

This article analyses the evolution of fertility in Belgium’s rural areas between1880 and 1939. It examines the heterogeneity of behaviours throughout different rural zones, as well as the impact of structural disruptions, such as World War I, the 1929 economic crisis and the emergence of totalitarian regimes during this period. The analyses combine a classic period approach and a longitudinal approach based on retrospective data from the 1961 and 1981 population censuses.Unlike the typical assumption of rural homogeneity, our analyses show that fertility behaviours vary considerably among different rural zones. Certain rural zones were among the pioneers of fertility transition in Belgium; others were marked by a late but quick fertility decline; and finally, some zones experienced a late transition with fertility declining slowly through the years.Whereas World War I had little impact on fertility curves, the 1929 crisis had clear effects on demographic indicators. Age at marriage and at childbearing increased within the birth cohorts concerned, whereas the cohort fertility decreased. The intensity of these effects varies throughout the different rural zones in Belgium.

Keywords

• fertility
• rural area
• Belgium
• interwar period