The early days were difficult for INED. With the unexpected onset of the baby boom (200,000 additional births in France in 1946), an institute to promote fertility became apparently superfluous. But before long, INED was asked to study the consequences of the baby boom and its effect on housing, school enrolment, employment, infant and maternal mortality. The first INED demographers, mostly graduates of Ecole Polytechnique, drew inspiration from Alfred J. Lotka (1880-1949) and Pierre Depoid (1909-1968) to develop original demographic analysis methods which affirmed the scientific independence of INED and established its international reputation. Eminent INED researchers include: