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Birth Spacing in the Netherlands. The Effects of Family Composition, Occupation and Religion on Birth Intervals, 1820–1885

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Listed:
  • Jan Van Bavel

    (Catholic University of Leuven)

  • Jan Kok

    (International Institute of Social History)

Abstract

In this article, Dutch family reconstructions from the period 1820–1885 are analyst. Cox regression on birth intervals discloses that couples deliberately increased birth intervals already before the onset of the fertility transition. Spacing was not related to a targeted family size or to the sex composition of the family. Rather, the (temporary) burden of young, dependent children induced the parents to delay the next conception. Catholics and orthodox Protestants had shorter birth intervals than liberal Protestants, either because they rejected breastfeeding or because they were reluctant to experiment with birth spacing. Relatively long birth intervals were prevalent in the lowest social groups, whereas farmers and the self-employed middle class tended towards short intervals.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Van Bavel & Jan Kok, 2004. "Birth Spacing in the Netherlands. The Effects of Family Composition, Occupation and Religion on Birth Intervals, 1820–1885," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 119-140, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:20:y:2004:i:2:d:10.1023_b:eujp.0000033860.39537.e2
    DOI: 10.1023/B:EUJP.0000033860.39537.e2
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    Cited by:

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    3. Tommy Bengtsson & Martin Dribe, 2006. "Deliberate control in a natural fertility population: Southern Sweden, 1766–1864," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(4), pages 727-746, November.
    4. Martin Kolk, 2011. "Deliberate Birth Spacing in Nineteenth Century Northern Sweden [L’espacement volontaire des naissances au 19e siècle dans le Nord de la Suède]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 337-359, August.
    5. Francesco Cinnirella & Marc P. B. Klemp & Jacob L. Weisdorf, 2012. "Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as a Preventive Check Mechanism in Pre-Modern England," CESifo Working Paper Series 3936, CESifo.
    6. Martin Dribe & Francesco Scalone, 2010. "Detecting Deliberate Fertility Control in Pre-transitional Populations: Evidence from six German villages, 1766–1863 [Mise en évidence d’un contrôle volontaire des naissances dans des populations p," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 26(4), pages 411-434, November.
    7. Jona Schellekens & Frans Poppel, 2012. "Marital Fertility Decline in the Netherlands: Child Mortality, Real Wages, and Unemployment, 1860–1939," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 965-988, August.
    8. Fabian Drixler, 2015. "Conjuring the Ghosts of Missing Children: A Monte Carlo Simulation of Reproductive Restraint in Tokugawa Japan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(2), pages 667-703, April.
    9. Corey Sparks, 2009. "An application of the variable-r method to subpopulation growth rates in a 19th century agricultural population," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 21(2), pages 23-64.
    10. Francesco Cinnirella & Marc Klemp & Jacob Weisdorf, 2017. "Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(2), pages 413-436, April.
    11. Guinnane Timothy W., 2006. "Der europäische Geburtenrückgang: Überblick, Erklärungen und Stand der Forschung," Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte / Economic History Yearbook, De Gruyter, vol. 47(2), pages 249-273, December.
    12. Francesco Cinnirella & Marc Klemp & Jacob Weisdorf, 2019. "Further Evidence of Within-Marriage Fertility Control in Pre-Transitional England," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(4), pages 1557-1572, August.
    13. David Sven Reher & Alberto Sanz‐Gimeno, 2007. "Rethinking Historical Reproductive Change: Insights from Longitudinal Data for a Spanish Town," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 33(4), pages 703-727, December.
    14. Thompson, Kristina & Portrait, France & Lindeboom, Maarten, 2022. "Is paternal height related to fertility outcomes? Evidence from the Netherlands during the secular growth trend," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).

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