Abortion, Birth Control, and Contraception: Fertility Decline in Norway

Between 1890 and 1930, fertility in Norway was halved; four variables accounted for 63 percent of explained variance. Socioeconomic factors were clearly more important than cultural ones-a finding that does not necessarily contradict results found in other studies: Within a homogenous cultural framework, fertility decline tends to follow socioeconomic development. Qualitative findings corroborate the regression analysis: Districts where women made their earliest and most active use of the right to vote for Parliament-obtained in 1913-also pioneered early fertility decline.