Factors involved in the decline of fertility in Spain 1900–1950

Summary

A statistical analysis is made of the social and economic characteristics associated with the decline of marital fertility in Spain, variables examined on a provincial basis are marriage patterns, marital fertility, and indices of industrialization, urbanization, and literacy. Cross-section and time-series analyses of the data do not indicate a strong association between fertility and the above indicators of development. Rural-urban differentials in marital fertility are small when examined by province.

Sharp regional differences in marital fertility are apparent for historical and linguistic regions in Spain, it appears that within a region the provincial marital fertility rates are fairly constant regardless of whether the province is rural or urban, agricultural or industrial. However, one region may have an average rate approximately twice that of another. The inference is that cultural factors, which may arise from a common historical and linguistic heritage within a region, are closely associated with fertility in some complex relationship.

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Notes on contributors

J. William Leasure

This article is based on a Ph.D. dissertation written under the guidance of Dr. Ansley J. Coale, Director, Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. The author is indebted to Professor Coale for his helpful advice.