The decline of marital fertility in the late nineteenth century: The case of England and Wales

Abstract

This paper deals with two kinds of theoretical approach to the explanation of fertility control during the nineteenth century and considers two forms of empirical analysis. Explanations which emphasize the role of the changing structural context (industrialization and urbanization for example) are contrasted with those which make use of behavioural interpretations in which the decision-making of individual couples is paramount. In the empirical analyses, data for the English and Welsh registration districts in 1861 and 1891 are employed in the first instance and, secondly, an attempt is made to estimate social-class-specific marital fertility rates for three English towns between 1851 and 1871 by using data from the census enumerators' books. The results of these analyses confirm the complexity of the processes involved in the secular decline of marital fertility and suggest the importance of the collective biography approach for the study of individuals' motivations and behaviour patterns.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

C. W. Smith

The second author wishes to thank the SSRC for their research training award L79/20541. We both wish to express our thanks to members of the Sheffield Population Research Group for their comments and criticisms on an earlier draft of this paper.