In 2003, one French birth in twenty (5%) was achieved after a medical treatment or procedure. In half of these cases (2.4%) conception was obtained through ovarian stimulation, and the other half by either artificial insemination (0.8%) or in-vitro fertilization (IVF) (1.7%). The proportion of...

Up until the 1970s, flu epidemics commonly caused 10,000 to 20,000 direct deaths each year in France, not counting those who died from complications of the disease. The development of an effective vaccine, regularly reformulated in response to new viral mutations, has brought a ten-fold...

Every other year, the summer issue of Population and Societies called The population of the world presents a global picture of the world population. The data shown here can be found in the World Population Data Sheet published by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB)

Each year, around 6% of persons aged 65 and over are injured in a home or leisure accident, compared with 15% of children. For the over-65s, three-quarters of all home and leisure accidents are falls in or near the home and, in 15% of cases, in the street. By comparison, accidents among young...

The world population is still growing. After topping 6 billion in 1999, it will reach 7 billion this year (2011) - an increase of 1 billion in the space of 12 years - and should total 8 billion by 2025, just 14 years from now. Population growth is slowing down, however: annual growth has fallen...

In 2010, there were 54 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in the world, 16% fewer than in 2000. The decline in early childbearing is associated with women's later marriage or entry into union, in turn a consequence of increased female school enrolment and women's enhanced status in society. In...

Owing to their lower workforce participation, women earn smaller pensions than men. Changes in conjugal behaviour and other factors mean that a growing number of women who are not widows will live alone during retirement. Their incomes will therefore depend more closely on their own accrued...

New research is needed to understand how the ongoing changes in children's early environment affect their development, their health and their socialization. The multiple factors involved and their numerous interactions make this type of research particularly complex. The best way to track...

Employers' family-friendly policies generally take the form of financial support rather than benefits in kind. Occasional benefits and services are much more common than those granted on a regular basis. Corporate day care centres are still very rare, for example, despite the fact that employers...