Fertility fell rapidly in OECD countries in the second half of the twentieth century, a period marked by continuous economic growth in these regions of the world. A trend reversal has been observed in the last decade, however, and fertility hasstarted rising again in the most developed countries...

The world population is ageing. Now that families are get-ting smaller and people are living for longer, the proportion of adults and old people is increasing while the proportion of young people is declining. Unless large families once again become the norm - an unrealistic long-term option,...

Despite the economic crisis, fertility in France remains high, with 1.98 children per woman on average in 2009, compared with 1.99 in 2008. Age at childbearing continues to increase, and women who gave birth in 2008 were aged 30.0 years on average, versus 29.9 in 2008. Over the last century, age...

The population of the four French overseas départements (DOMs) is younger than that of metropolitan France. In 2006, the under-20s represented 35% of the population in Réunion, 31% in Guadeloupe, 29% in Martinique and 45% in French Guiana, versus just 25% on the mainland. But, paradoxically,...

As people grow older, they face an increasing risk of loss of autonomy. When assistance with the activities of daily living becomes indispensable, this leads to dependence. Women live for longer than men, and outnumber them at advanced ages. They are also more frequently affected by disabilities...

Under the medium variant of the demographic projections issued in 2006 by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan, the Japanese population is set to fall more than 30 million by 2050. Rapid population ageing will also occur due to increasing life expectancy -...

Un numéro spécial de huit pages consacré aux quarante ans de la loi Neuwirth libérelisant la contraception en France

In 2005, the population of the 25 countries of the European Union was one and a half times that of the United States: 463 million versus 296 million. But over the last twenty years, population growth in Europe has been three and a half times slower than in the United States, where sustained...

Although average body fatness, measured by the body mass index (BMI) is 23.2 for French women and 26.2 for British women, their reported ideal weight is lower, standing at 19.5 in France and 20.7 in the United Kingdom. Underweight is more highly prized by French women than by women elsewhere in...

In the 17th century in France, there were more births between January and April, and fewer between May and December. Twice as many children were born in March as in June. This pattern of births was long thought to be a product of nature, with the increase in conceptions from April being linked...