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What caused the big Baby Boom of 46-63? The explanations most often given are economic, but the fundamental cause seems to be contraceptive failure: married couples didn't actually want families as large as they were having:
As the excerpt indicates, the problem was accentuated by a decline in the average age of marriage in those NW Euro countries west of the Hajnal line that had previously delayed it:
Histories of homosexuality often emphasize the war as a major turning point, when guys realized they weren't the only one and were exposed to prostitutes in major cities. Straight guys seemed to have a similar awakening, although they talked about it less.
My general impression is the war changed the way young men talked about sex and that it what they expected of their wives in bed. Much of the Boom debate could have been resolved if somebody had the gall to survey Americans year to year about how many times they were screwing.
