Insee Focus · June 2021 · n° 239

Completed fertility remains slightly above 2 children per woman for women born in the 1970s

In 2019, women born in 1969 are 50 years old: they had an average of 2.00 children during their lifetime and will hardly have any more. During the 20th century, the 1928 generation had the highest completed fertility, with an average of 2.65 children per woman. The completed fertility has been decreasing since then. The generation of women born in 1964 is the first not to reach the replacement level, estimated at 2.05 children per woman.

As women are having children later and later, women's number of children at the age of 30 have been falling since 1967, while those at the age of 40 have been rising for the last generations. The completed fertility should start to rise again in the coming years and remain above 2.00 children per woman for generations born in the 1970s.