The paper examines the demographic situation in contemporary Czech society and its roots in the past. In the late 20th century there are two key development trends. Demographic model originated in 195Os (characterized by high fertility rates, high marriage rates (95%), high divorce rates (40%), low marriage age and so on) was left after the decline of socialism and the revival of original interwar model has occurred since early 1990s. The second trend is approximating to the model of reproduction usual in Western Europe. This new ways of reproduction are characterized by postponing the marriage and parenthood, so called informal partnerships or unmarried (consensual) couples are becoming more frequent which also results in a growing number of birth of extra-marital children. The increase of divorce rates occurs and hence both numbers of incomplete families and of households including just one individual constantly grow. The improved medical care and healthier regime have led to longer life expectancies over the last fifteen years. The infant mortality figure has further improved. The author concludes that population development significantly influences current economic, health, legal, environmental and political conditions which create together a social environment where the demographic development occurs.
The number of inhabitants in Prague in the middle of the 18th century grew slightly, despite the slight decline in the natural population change. This increase, like in the majority of European towns, occurred as a result of immigration. This is confirmed in an analysis of registers of the deceased in the parish of the Holy Cross in the Old Town in Prague for the years 1748-1762. In these years only one in three people who died in the parish and were over the age of 15 were actually from Prague. Among children aged 15 and under, 87 % were bom in Prague. Mainly adults migrated to Prague, usually while they were single, but there are also families with children among the newcomers. In fact almost 8 % of infant children of the deceased were baptised outside Prague. The immigrants headed to Prague not only from other parts of Bohemia (from the Czech and German speaking parts) but also from neighbouring lands (mainly Austria and Moravia).The population of Prague was relatively highly mobile within the city limits. Among the people buried in the parish over the age of 15, who came from all four Prague towns, only one-quarter had been baptised in the parish under observation. In the Old Town (i.e. including other parishes) the figure was 65 %. In this case it was evident that within the city even families with children moved (20 % of infants that died in the parish were baptised in another parish).