Reproduction and survival in an unknown world

This is an excerpt from a larger analysis in which Coleman explores a wide range of possible theories about influences on contemporary fertility levels in industrial societies. The passages below examine the role of economic factors and changing values in explaining fertility levels. Among many challenging observations Coleman notes that in the 1970s women in European societies with high levels of workforce participation tended to have fewer births. But, by the 1990s, this relationship had reversed. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s