The impact of socio-economic status on net fertility during the historical fertility decline: A comparative analysis of Canada, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and the USA

Abstract

We used micro-level data from the censuses of 1900 to investigate the impact of socio-economic status on net fertility during the fertility transition in five Northern American and European countries (Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the USA). The study is therefore unlike most previous research on the historical fertility transition, which used aggregate data to examine economic correlates of demographic behaviour at regional or national levels. Our data included information on number of children by age, occupation of the mother and father, place of residence, and household context. The results show highly similar patterns across countries, with the elite and upper middle classes having considerably lower net fertility early in the transition. These patterns remain after controlling for a range of individual and community-level fertility determinants and geographical unobserved heterogeneity.

Keywords:

• socio-economic status
• fertility
• child–woman ratios
• net fertility
• fertility transition
• innovation
• adjustment

Notes

1. Martin Dribe is at the Department of Economic History & Centre for Economic Demography, Lund University, PO Box 7083, 22007 Lund, Sweden. E-mail: [email protected]. J. David Hacker is at the Department of History & Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota. Francesco Scalone is at the Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Bologna.