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The shaping of a settler fertility transition: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century South African demographic history reconsidered

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  • Jeanne Cilliers
  • Martine Mariotti

Abstract

Using South African Families (SAF), a new database of settler genealogies, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of women’s cohort fertility in settler South Africa between 1700 and 1900. We find parity rates of approximately seven children per woman until a decline begins starting with women born in the 1850s. We date the start of South Africa’s fertility transition to cohorts born in the 1850s, having children from the 1870s. Both average parity and the timing of the transition are similar to other settler societies suggesting that although the sample suffers from selection it does not bias the parity estimates.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeanne Cilliers & Martine Mariotti, 2019. "The shaping of a settler fertility transition: eighteenth- and nineteenth-century South African demographic history reconsidered," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 23(4), pages 421-445.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:23:y:2019:i:4:p:421-445.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ereh/hey019
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    Cited by:

    1. Cilliers, Jeanne & Mariotti, Martine & Martins, Igor, 2024. "Fertility responses to short-term economic stress: Price volatility and wealth shocks in a pre-transitional settler colony," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. J. Fourie, 2018. "Cliometrics in South Africa," Studies in Economics and Econometrics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Martins, Igor & Cilliers, Jeanne & Fourie, Johan, 2019. "Legacies of Loss: The intergenerational outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony," Lund Papers in Economic History 197, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    4. Jeanne Cilliers & Martine Mariotti, 2019. "Stop! Go! What can we learn about family planning from birth timing in settler South Africa, 1800-1910?," CEH Discussion Papers 05, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    5. Johan Fourie & Frank Garmon, 2023. "The settlers’ fortunes: Comparing tax censuses in the Cape Colony and early American republic," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(2), pages 525-550, May.
    6. Jeanne Cilliers & Erik Green & Robert Ross, 2023. "Did it pay to be a pioneer? Wealth accumulation in a newly settled frontier society," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 257-282, February.
    7. Cilliers, Jeanne & Green, Erik & Ross, Robert, 2022. "Did it pay to be a pioneer? Wealth accumulation in a newly settled frontier society," Lund Papers in Economic History 237, Lund University, Department of Economic History.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N37 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Africa; Oceania

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