ABSTRACT
In the large populations located in the developing areas, the rapidly accelerating rate of growth has been brought about by sharp declines in mortality, while in the United States the higher growth rates of the last two decades result from an unparalleled rise in fertility. To place recent American fertility in perspective, this chapter examines the historical trend of the birth rate and the factors apparently responsible for this trend. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there was an almost uninterrupted decline in American fertility, culminating in the all-time low of the early 1930s. The main picture of American fertility has been this long trend toward the small families of two and three children. The higher fertility of the United States population for the past fifteen years has been a fascinating, as well as puzzling phenomenon. The demographic components of the fertility resurgence must first be carefully examined before advancing any speculations about its social origins.
