Total fertility rate of the United Kingdom 1800-2020

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country would have throughout their reproductive years. In the United Kingdom in 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have five children over the course of their lifetime. Over the next 35 years the fertility rate was quite sporadic, rising to over 5.5 in the 1810s and 1820s, then dropping to 4.9 by 1835. This was during and after the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 with the US, which was a time of increased industrialization, economic depression and high unemployment after the war. As things became more stable, and the 'Pax Britannica' (a period of relative, international peace and economic prosperity for the British Empire) came into full effect, the fertility rate plateaued until 1880, before dropping gradually until the First World War. The fertility rate then jumped from 2.6 to 3.1 children per woman between 1915 and 1920, as many men returned from the war. It then resumed it's previous trajectory in the interwar years, before increasing yet again after the war (albeit, for a much longer time than after WWI), in what is known as the 'Baby Boom'. Like the US, the Baby Boom lasted until around 1980, where it then fell to 1.7 children per woman, and it has remained around this number (between 1.66 and 1.87) since then.

一国之生育率，系指该国女性在其生育年限内平均所生育子女的数量。以1800年的英国为例，育龄女性在其一生中平均将生育五名子女。在随后的35年间，生育率波动不定，于19世纪10年代和20年代上升至超过5.5，然而至1835年降至4.9。这一时期正值拿破仑战争及美英1812年战争之后，工业化进程加速，战后的经济萧条与高失业率随之而来。随着局势逐渐稳定，以及‘大英和平时期’（英国帝国相对国际和平与经济繁荣的时期）的全面实施，生育率直至1880年达到顶峰，随后逐渐下降直至第一次世界大战爆发。1915年至1920年间，生育率从每名女性的2.6个子女跃升至3.1个，众多男性战争归来所致。随后，在战间期恢复了之前的趋势，而在战后（尽管持续时间较一战之后更长）再次上升，这一现象被称为‘婴儿潮’。与美国相似，婴儿潮持续至约1980年，此后生育率降至每名女性1.7个，自此以来，生育率始终围绕此数值（在1.66至1.87之间）波动。