Family Limitation and Age at Marriage: Fertility Decline in Sturbridge, Massachusetts 1730-1850

1976 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 481 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Osterud ◽  
John Fulton
1981 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-315
Author(s):  
Carl Mosk

Many theories of demographic transition stem from attempts to explain fertility differentials across economic and social groups. These differentials typically emerge once a decline in natality commences. Thus it is commonly observed that the fertility of urban populations falls short of that recorded for agricultural districts, that the upper classes tend to precede the working classes in the adaptation of family limitation, and the like. These observations are, in turn, used to justify economic and sociological theories which, by associating both social status and economic costs and benefits with occupation and residence, account for the fertility decline in terms of status and constrained choice.


1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 589-603
Author(s):  
Naushin Mahmood ◽  
Zubeda Khan

As societies modernize, they move from a relatively homogeneous state to one of greater diversity in several spheres. Among those, changes in educational structure and marital patterns are of great demographic importance, particularly in countries experiencing a high tempo of fertility. Increased education is supposed to result in non-familial aspirations and a greater understanding of the process and ways of controlling fertility. Similarly, marriage postponement tends to shorten the period of exposure to childbearing and results in a lower fertility than is experienced by those marrying earlier, particularly in societies where fertility is confined to marriage and is rarely controlled. However, it is not clear whether there is a threshold at which education or age at marriage becomes important in determining changes in fertility behaviour. Thresholds of fertility decline due to a given level of education have been identified for specific countries at a given point in time, but results vary considerably from country to country. In places where illiteracy is high, the move from illiteracy to literacy seems significant, while in some other societies, the crucial point is the completion of primary or higher education.


2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Sunil ◽  
Vijayan K. Pillai

This paper attempts to examine the extent of influence of the three components of fertility, age at marriage, extent of modern contraceptive use and the level of abortion on fertility in the Republic of Yemen and to explore the impact of a selected set of demographic and socioeconomic variables on the three fertility components. This study uses data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Yemen in 1991/1992 and 1997. The results from this study present empirical evidence of an onset of fertility decline in the Republic of Yemen. An important component of this decline is delayed age at marriage. There has been an increase in modem contraceptive use during the last decade. However, these methods are not widely used at early stages of family formation. The most common method of family limitation among women with large families is abortion. There has been very little change if any in the widespread occurrence of abortion during the last decade. There exist significant urban-rural differences in the levels of contraceptive use and abortion. Improvements in women's education and modern sector labor participation are crucial for increasing age at marriage, and level of contraceptive use and for reducing the prevailing level of abortion.


1994 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bertrand Desjardins ◽  
Alain Bideau ◽  
Guy Brunet

SummaryThis study uses sets of historical family reconstitutions from all of Quebec and from four villages of the Haut-Jura, France—first marriages of 2226 and 994 women, respectively—to investigate the physiological and social factors affecting age of mother at last birth before and during fertility transition. Age remained high throughout the period covered in Quebec, under ‘natural’ conditions, but showed a steady decline in the French material which extends to late 19th century generations practising family limitation.Age at marriage had no influence in Quebec; in France, however, women with the most surviving children at age 35 continued childbearing the latest. There was no link between biological ability to achieve a live birth, or in health status or aging rhythm, and age at last birth. Behaviour of mothers and daughters showed no relation. The variability in age at last birth thus appears to be random under natural conditions; with the onset of controls, social differences seem to influence not only the end of childbearing, but all aspects of behaviour governing final family size and child survival.


Author(s):  
Michael Anderson ◽  
Corinne Roughley

The marked variations in the distribution of family sizes over time are further explored, as also are the major variations between women married to fathers in different occupations. The significance of very small families in fertility constraint is explored. The role in Scotland of possible methods of family limitation at different dates is examined, in the context of ongoing historical debates about when, if ever, most couples began consciously to ‘plan’ the size of their families, and at what point in their marriages they may have done so. In the same context, Scottish evidence is reviewed on the possible reasons for the timing of the onset of fertility decline and its spread through to the 1930s.


1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth H. Fliess

The decline of American fertility on a national scale is a well-known and well-documented phenomenon, but little is known about fertility decline at the community level. Are immigrant groups really different or are they affected by the same factors and respond to them in the same manner as native-born populations? This essay investigates the fertility and nuptiality experience of the Wends of Serbin, Texas using age-specific fertility rates, total marital fertility rates, the index of family limitation, age at last birth, birth intervals and age at first marriage for both males and females. The Wends are shown to have experienced fertility decline in the same magnitude as the rest of the country though they begin and end at higher levels.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document