Introduction or preface

- In the industrialized word, France and Italy placed at the extremes as far as fertility behaviour is concerned. Besides these differences, in this work we also wonder whether (or not) fertility desires are different between the two countries. In particular, we aim at scrutinizing the factors influencing the choice of the fertility pattern in France and Italy, paying special attention to the "single child model" and "large family model". Our findings highlight that the desired number of children in France is only slightly higher than in Italy. Moreover, also women who do not desire a two-child family are very similar in the two countries.Keywords: Fertility desires, France, Italy, determinants of fertility desires, fertility intentions, observed fertility