| Abstract: | This article examines explanations of the sharp rise in the birth rate that occurred in the United States during the late 1940s and the 1950s (the so-called "baby boom") in light of recent research on the nature and magnitude of its demographic components. The paper includes a review of the fertility surveys that derived from concern about postwar fertility trends, a discussion of the kind and relative importance of the demographic components constituting the fertility increase of the period, an assessment of explanations of the baby boom, and a interpretation of one of the components– the rise in average family size-that was a demographically small, but theoretically significant, part of the upturn in the birth rate. |
