Victory and Prosperity.

During the Great Depression the marriage rate fell as uncertainty over economic conditions caused people to postpone decisions that would significantly affect their lives. Birthrates also dropped: pessimism shrouded Americans' expectations of a promising future for themselves and their children. After World War II ended, however, prospects seemed considerably brighter. Young Americans returned home from war in 1945 ready to reap the benefits of victory and a prospering economy. Accordingly, there were almost 2.3 million marriages in 1946, an increase of more than six hundred thousand over the previous year. Many of these newlyweds had children within a year: a record 3.8 million babies were born in 1947. This was the first year of the baby boom, which lasted for most of the 1950s. Between 1948 and 1953 more babies were born than had been over the previous thirty years. In 1954 a record birthrate, a low death rate...