Demographic Patterns in Comparative Perspective

This chapter outlines the demographic patterns in France, Hungary, Norway, and Germany by means of several indicators that reflect the demographic situation and its development. Section 2.1 defines some fertility measures, discusses the country values and concludes with a cross-country comparison. Section 2.2 deals in the same way with marriage and divorce indicators. There is a large variety of indicators. Suitability and availability do not always accord with each other. Consequently, diverging measures for different countries have to be used. Only the least suitable indicator – the crude (divorce and marriage) rate – is available for all countries.