Deliberate control in a natural fertility population: Southern Sweden, 1766-1864
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.
Department/s
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