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Biologically, a healthy woman could give birth to over 15 kids if she married early enough and did not try to evade pregnancy. Historically, human societies have never tried to raise fertility but have restricted it through access to marriage.
Fertility decline in Europe is not new – it began in the 18th and 19th centuries. Scientists still discuss the relative significance of economic development, cultural transformation, and increasing social interaction in encouraging European couples to reduce their number of offspring.
The map below, created by Reddit user ape_pants shows the timing of the decline in the fertility rate. Dated on the map represents the first time when a 10% decline in marital fertility was observed for a population after modern Censuses became available in 1830.
Later, the two world wars produced dramatic, temporary declines in fertility, and the Post Second World War period saw a “Baby Boom.” By the 1970s, most of Western Europe experienced the emergence of “low–low” fertility.
More later, fertility decreased substantially and, during the 20th century, fell well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, long considered by demographers as a kind of watershed event.
