Demographic Transition in Argentina

CELTON, DORA ESTELA; COLANTONIO, SONIA EDITH; PERANOVICH, ANDRÉS CONRADO

Atenas

Conferencia; 1º Annual International Conference on Demography and Population Studies; 2014

Athens Institute for Education and Research

Argentina was one of the Latin American countries that entered earlier in the process of the Demographic Transition. That is, a change in the demographic regime which went from high mortality and birth rates to a regime characterized by low rates of these two components, placing its beginning in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when both mortality and fertility rates began to decline simultaneously to the arrival of mass immigration. Between the first and third National Census (1869 and 1914) the population increased from 1.9 to 8.3 million, at an average annual growth rate of 3.3% and the fastest urbanization in argentinian history. The process of modernization of society in recent years, seen through changes in patterns of reproductive behavior on one hand, and the generation of health policies on the other generated effects in the levels of fertility and mortality in the population. These factors were associated to cultural and social behaviors that had significant impact on the family. But, what factors influenced the gain in life expectancy in Argentina? Who were the main beneficiaries? How these changes occurred? So, the objective of this document is to describe the evolution of the factors that contributed to the development of the Demographic Transition in Argentina in the twentieth century, as well as the main effects of this process, such as population aging and changes in families.