Why do some men and women have only one child? The case of France in Europe

Didier Breton, Université de Strasbourg and Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
France Prioux, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

This paper observes the change since the 1970s in the proportion of men and women having only one child during their reproductive life, and examines their sociodemographic characteristics. The aim is to explore the discriminant variables of the parity progression ratio to second birth (A1), or more precisely its complement. Our work is divided into three parts. The first part presents the theories and findings relating to the single-child family model in Europe in general and in France in particular. The second part seeks to measure the parity progression ratio A1, and hence its complement, in French parity-one cohorts and sub-cohorts. Last, we perform a multivariate analysis with the dependent variable of the model being the fact of not having had a second child ten years after the birth of a first child.