Résumé
One of the key determinants in population growth and structure in a society is its fertility behaviour. In 1956, Kingsley Davis and Judith Blake made a distinction between several types of variable that affect fertility, such as biological fecundity, sexual unions, socio-cultural influences and so on that they referred to as intermediate variables and through which the cultural factors exert their influence. Other influences have also been proposed, including the socioeconomic variables of persons which, through their effect on the intermediate variables, can account for different fertility levels. This category includes the level of education, occupation, income, etc. The main aim of this article is to provide an empirical test of the relation between the level of education and fertility in order to determine whether a rise in the level of education can have caused a significant decrease in fertility in France since 1950. This is followed by analysis of that among the other main determinants that underly this link.