Počeci opadanja rađanja u Slavoniji

European countries today are characterized by fertility rates that are very low by historical standards. A century and a half ago in most Euro¬pean countries, and as recently as a half century ago in some, the aver¬age woman who married and lived in a married state until menopause could expect to bear about 7 children. Today in many European coun¬tries such a woman could expect to bear two, and of course many bear fewer than two. Until this astonishing change in fertility regimes, the major control over the total fertility of a population lay in the control of marriage and the sensitivity of the possibilities of marriage to social and economic conditions. Now, of course, the major control over fertility lies in contraception or abortion.Današnje europske zemlje, u odnosu na povijesne standarde, karakterizira veoma niska stopa trudnoća. Prije stoljeća i pol u najvećem broju europskih zemalja, jednako kao i do prije pola stoljeća u nekima od njih, žena u braku mogla je očekivati da će začeti prosječno sedmero djece. U suvremenim europskim zemljama taj se broj danas kreće oko dvije trudnoće. Glavni uzroci tome leže u prilagođavanju brakova socijalnim i gospodarskim uvjetima. U ovome radu donosi se pregled, temeljen na statističkim podacima, o počecima toga procesa od početaka 18. st do sredine našeg stoljeća