Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England

Francesco Cinnirella; Marc Klemp; Jacob Weisdorf

doi:10.1007/s13524-017-0556-4

Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England

Francesco Cinnirella, Marc Klemp, Jacob Weisdorf

23 Citations (Scopus)

57 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

We use duration models on a well-known historical data set of more than 15,000 families and 60,000 births in England for the period 1540-1850 to show that the sampled families adjusted the timing of their births in accordance with the economic conditions as well as their stock of dependent children. The effects were larger among the lower socioeconomic ranks. Our findings on the existence of parity-dependent as well as parity-independent birth spacing in England are consistent with the growing evidence that marital birth control was present in pre-transitional populations.

Original language	English
Journal	Demography
Volume	54
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	413-436
ISSN	0070-3370
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-017-0556-4
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2017

Keywords

Spacing
Birth intervals
Birth control
Fertility limitation
Preventive check
Faculty of Social Sciences

Access to Document

10.1007/s13524-017-0556-4Licence: CC BY

Cinnirella2017_Article_MalthusInTheBedroomBirthSpacinFinal published version, 497 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England",

abstract = "We use duration models on a well-known historical data set of more than 15,000 families and 60,000 births in England for the period 1540-1850 to show that the sampled families adjusted the timing of their births in accordance with the economic conditions as well as their stock of dependent children. The effects were larger among the lower socioeconomic ranks. Our findings on the existence of parity-dependent as well as parity-independent birth spacing in England are consistent with the growing evidence that marital birth control was present in pre-transitional populations.",

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AB - We use duration models on a well-known historical data set of more than 15,000 families and 60,000 births in England for the period 1540-1850 to show that the sampled families adjusted the timing of their births in accordance with the economic conditions as well as their stock of dependent children. The effects were larger among the lower socioeconomic ranks. Our findings on the existence of parity-dependent as well as parity-independent birth spacing in England are consistent with the growing evidence that marital birth control was present in pre-transitional populations.

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KW - Birth control

KW - Fertility limitation

KW - Preventive check

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KW - Birth control

KW - Fertility limitation

KW - Preventive check

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