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Socio-economic status and fertility decline : Insights from historical transitions in Europe and North America

Dribe, Martin LU ; Breschi, Marco ; Gagnon, Alain ; Gauvreau, Danielle ; Hanson, Heidi A. ; Maloney, Thomas N. ; Mazzoni, Stanislao ; Molitoris, Joseph LU ; Pozzi, Lucia and Smith, Ken R. , et al. (2017) In Population Studies 71(1). p.3-21
Abstract
The timings of historical fertility transitions in different regions are well understood by demographers, but much less is known regarding their specific features and causes. In the study reported in this paper, we used longitudinal micro-level data for five local populations in Europe and North America to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and fertility during the fertility transition. Using comparable analytical models and class schemes for each population, we examined the changing socio-economic differences in marital fertility and related these to common theories on fertility behaviour. Our results do not provide support for the hypothesis of universally high fertility among the upper classes in pre-transitional... (More)
The timings of historical fertility transitions in different regions are well understood by demographers, but much less is known regarding their specific features and causes. In the study reported in this paper, we used longitudinal micro-level data for five local populations in Europe and North America to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and fertility during the fertility transition. Using comparable analytical models and class schemes for each population, we examined the changing socio-economic differences in marital fertility and related these to common theories on fertility behaviour. Our results do not provide support for the hypothesis of universally high fertility among the upper classes in pre-transitional society, but do support the idea that the upper classes acted as forerunners by reducing their fertility before other groups. Farmers and unskilled workers were the latest to start limiting their fertility. Apart from these similarities, patterns of class differences in fertility varied significantly between populations. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
fertility transition, socio-economic status, fertility, longitudinal data, innovation, adjustment
in
Population Studies
volume
71
issue
1
pages
19 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:84997078078
  • pmid:27884093
  • wos:000396742700001
ISSN
1477-4747
DOI
10.1080/00324728.2016.1253857
project
Landskrona Population Study
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
899eb533-61a8-4d8e-a2ae-e44cc6590607
date added to LUP
2016-05-24 20:14:18
date last changed
2022-04-24 07:39:41
@article{899eb533-61a8-4d8e-a2ae-e44cc6590607,
  abstract     = {{The timings of historical fertility transitions in different regions are well understood by demographers, but much less is known regarding their specific features and causes. In the study reported in this paper, we used longitudinal micro-level data for five local populations in Europe and North America to analyse the relationship between socio-economic status and fertility during the fertility transition. Using comparable analytical models and class schemes for each population, we examined the changing socio-economic differences in marital fertility and related these to common theories on fertility behaviour. Our results do not provide support for the hypothesis of universally high fertility among the upper classes in pre-transitional society, but do support the idea that the upper classes acted as forerunners by reducing their fertility before other groups. Farmers and unskilled workers were the latest to start limiting their fertility. Apart from these similarities, patterns of class differences in fertility varied significantly between populations.}},
  author       = {{Dribe, Martin and Breschi, Marco and Gagnon, Alain and Gauvreau, Danielle and Hanson, Heidi A. and Maloney, Thomas N. and Mazzoni, Stanislao and Molitoris, Joseph and Pozzi, Lucia and Smith, Ken R. and Vézina, Hélène}},
  issn         = {{1477-4747}},
  keywords     = {{fertility transition; socio-economic status; fertility; longitudinal data; innovation; adjustment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{3--21}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Population Studies}},
  title        = {{Socio-economic status and fertility decline : Insights from historical transitions in Europe and North America}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2016.1253857}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/00324728.2016.1253857}},
  volume       = {{71}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}