Analyse harmonique du calendrier de constitution des familles en France. Disparités sociales et évolution de 1920 à 1960

Deville Jean-Claude. Harmonie Analysis of the Timing of Family Formation in France. Social Inequalities and their Evolution from 1920 to 1960. In 1962 INSEE carried out an inquiry into the fertility of 240,000 women born between 1892 and 1947. The pattern of family formation among a number of groups of women in France has been subjected to harmonic analysis. The coefficient of the first harmonic is strongly correlated with the size of completed family and the coefficient of the second with anticipation or postponement of births on average in the population. The groups studied are defined by social (husband's socio-professional group in 1962), cultural (level of wife's schooling), demographic (age at marriage), geographical (place of residence) or historical (date of marriage) characteristics. The early 193O's in France were marked by a growing delay in childbearing and the post-war period was characterized not only by higher fertility but also by a far quicker tempo of births. The difference between working and non- working wives shows considerable contrast, following as the adaptation of reproductive behaviour by wives in gainful employment.