Baby Boom

After World War II, many industrialized countries experienced a "baby boom." Four countries in particular - the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - experienced sustained and substantial rises in fertility from the depressed levels of the prewar period. In the U.S., for example, fertility rose by two-thirds, reaching levels between the 1950s and 1980 not seen since 1910, before World War I. Some even demarcate the Baby Boom period as being January 1, 1946-December 31, 1964 - in which over 77 million births occurred.