There is information on the evolution of the total fertility rate in Western countries between the 18th century and the mid-20th century which will be discussed in this document on fertility| document on the fertility rate. In all countries, we observe a downward trend in the TFR. The TFR was around 5 in these countries (such as Sweden, England and Wales) during the pre-industrial period. At the beginning of the 20th century, the TFR would have declined to around 2.5, or even 2. However, it was still above 3 in Spain and Italy. The TFR increased slightly in Australia and three other countries, while it continued to decline in other countries in 1925. Since 1925, the TFR has fallen to approximately 2. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayDuring the pre-industrial period (also known as phase 1 of the demographic transition model), all countries shared the same characteristic of ISF and high total. mortality rate. At that time, "a high 'total fertility rate' is often the response to a high mortality rate as a country seeks to reach or maintain a replacement level." People need to maintain the population to avoid dying, which is why they gave birth to as many children as possible to replace themselves. The economy mainly depended on the agricultural sector. “A larger family meant a larger labor force” because agricultural production simply required unskilled manual labor. Thus, the TFR was around 5 in the mid-18th century and mid-19th century in almost all countries. However, between 1803 and 1815, "France lost around 1.4 million men in the Napoleonic Wars", which caused a huge imbalance in the ratio of the sexes. The dead men were usually young and were the main breeding force. The imbalance in the sex ratio also caused the number of never-married women to increase, which further lowered the TFR to less than 4. After the industrial revolution, the TFR was still relatively high, around 3, 5 except in France (around 2.5), but it has decreased compared to pre-industrial times. period. First, with the decrease in CDR and the increase in child-rearing costs, parents have been thinking about how many children they need to give birth to in order to maximize their benefits in the countryside. They need to manage the costs of raising children and the benefits they may receive in the future. “As more education brought higher returns, parents were driven to invest in higher quality per child and reduce the number of children to make this possible.” Furthermore, in urban areas, middle-class groups believed that "too many children jeopardized the fairly high standard of living", and so they lowered the TFR in order to maintain their high standard of living. Second, with increasing education level, the average age at first marriage increases. Female fertility is set between 15 and 49 years of age. The later women marry, the fewer children they are able to give birth to. Third, the popularization of cheap contraceptives and breastfeeding also contribute to reducing the TFR. Breastfeeding was generally accepted by women, but it can cause lactational amenorrhea which further reduced fertility. After World War I, with huge losses and economic crisis, people again focused on developing the economy. With the economy booming and.