Demographic Diversity and Convergence in Europe, 1918-1990: The Hungarian case

Béla Tomka

Volume 6 - Article 2 | Pages 19–48

Demographic Diversity and Convergence in Europe, 1918-1990: The Hungarian case

By Béla Tomka

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Date received:	25 May 2001
Date published:	15 Jan 2002
Word count:	8051
Keywords:	20th century, comparative analysis, convergence, demography, family history, Hungary, Western Europe
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2002.6.2

Abstract

The study investigates how Hungarian demographic development from the end of World War I to 1990 related to the changes that took place in Western Europe, and in which areas and in what periods can divergence or convergence be observed. The issues examined included fertility, mortality and nuptiality movements.
Based on the analyses three main periods in 20th century Hungarian demographic development can be distinguished: from the beginning to the middle of the century, Hungary converged to the societies of Western Europe; approximately from the middle of the century to the mid-60s, the diminution of differences between Hungary and Western Europe halted on the whole, but the gap still did not begin to widen; in the third period, which lasted from the mid-60s to 1990, Hungary took a course diverging from Western Europe.