France, Social Portrait 2021 edition
This work provides a perspective on more than a year of a health crisis with unprecedented economic and social impacts: How has the population's mortality and health changed throughout the waves of Covid-19? To what extent have the preventive measures been adopted? How has the healthcare system been affected? Which regions were most affected by the drop in births seen nine months after the first lockdown? What impact has the crisis had on household income and the job market? What effect did the crisis have on young people?
Nine months after the first lockdown, the drop in births was more pronounced in areas hit harder by the pandemic
Sandra Brée (CNRS, LARHRA), Didier Breton (Université de Strasbourg, Ined), Thomas Ducharne (Insee), Sophie Villaume (Insee)
From December 2020 to February 2021, nine months after the first lockdown in response to the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in France, the number of births was considerably lower than in the three previous winters. Concerns regarding the health and economic landscape and difficult — or even lack of — access to medically assisted procreation facilities caused some people to delay their parenting plans or abandon them altogether.
This drop in births was more marked in French departments more affected by the first wave of the pandemic, largely located in the north and east of the country. The size of this drop appears, however, to be less linked to the extent of the damage to the economy. Households living in urban areas or municipalities with higher poverty rates were also more likely to push back their plans to have children.
In spring 2021, the number of births began to increase again but did not make up for the drop seen in winter. A quarter of departments continued to experience a drop in birth rates. In others, the increase barely covered the deficit, especially in departments that suffered the biggest drops in winter.
Birth rates fell more sharply among younger women (those under 30) and older women (those 40 and above). In spring, while the number of births increased among older women, it remained lower than in previous years for women under 30.