Alarmist predictions about African migration are all the rage. François Héran shows that they are based less on a demographic approach than on an economic conjecture, and on the fallacy that development in Africa can only be achieved at the expense of Europe.
The fear of a global demographic explosion, starting in the early 20th century, has prompted birth-control policies. According to Matthew Connelly, the will of men in the North to impact the behaviours of women in the South has been inefficient and hurtful. He describes humanity as a Janus-like figure, both an ideal and a field of confrontation.
In the USA, husbands are on average two years older than their wives. When people born during a baby boom are ready to get married, there are more women on the “marriage market” than men, their bargaining power is consequently lower. According to Shoshana Grossbard, cyclical variations of the labour force participation of women could thus be explained by demographic conditions on the “marriage market”.
