Post #3104

The Children 'not born' because of World War I "During the First World War the fertility rates of European nations collapsed... The deficit of births during the Great War is estimated, for France, to be about 1.4 million while military casualties are about 1.4 million too. This means that the French population was 2.8 million people ‘short’ at the end of the War, and that half of this shortage is accounted for by the collapse of fertility rates. Germany was affected in quite a similar way by the war. Its military casualties are estimated at two million and its deficit of births during the war is about 3.2 million... the generations who reached their twenties during the war had fewer children over the course of their lives than other generations... The case of the First World War was not unique. Caldwell (2004) shows that fertility declined in 13 different episodes of crises such as wars and revolution in various countries and periods of time." (Vandenbroucke, 2012)