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Deliberate control in a natural fertility population: Southern Sweden, 1766-1864

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Author

Summary, in English

ln this article, we analyze fertility control in a rural population characterized by natural fertility, using survival analysis on a longitudinal data set at the individual level combined with food prices. Landless and semilandless families responded strongly to short-term economic stress stemming from changes in prices. The fertility response, both to moderate and large changes in food prices, was the strongest within six months after prices changed in the fall, which means that the response was deliberate. People foresaw bad times and planned their fertility accordingly. The result highlights the importance of deliberate control of the timing of childbirth before the fertiliry transition, not in order to achieve a certain family size but, as in this case, to reduce the negative impacts of short-term economic stress.

Publishing year

2006

Language

English

Pages

727-746

Publication/Series

Demography

Volume

43

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Population Assn Amer

Topic

  • Economic History

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1533-7790