Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874)
In this paper, we investigate how the reproductive behavior of families in the historical Krummhörn region was affected by their social status and by short-term fluctuations in their socioeconomic conditions. Poisson and Cox regression models are used to analyze the age at first reproduction, fertil...
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International Institute of Social History
2015-12-01
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| Series: | Historical Life Course Studies |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10622/23526343-2015-0006?locatt=view:master |
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| author | Kai Willführ Charlotte Störmer |
| author_facet | Kai Willführ Charlotte Störmer |
| author_sort | Kai Willführ |
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| description | In this paper, we investigate how the reproductive behavior of families in the historical Krummhörn region was affected by their social status and by short-term fluctuations in their socioeconomic conditions. Poisson and Cox regression models are used to analyze the age at first reproduction, fertility, the sex ratio of the offspring, sex-specific infant/child survival, and the number of children. In addition, we investigate how fluctuations in crop prices affected infant and child mortality and fertility using Cox proportional regression models. We also include information about the seasonal climate that may have had an effect on crop prices, as well as on infant mortality via other pathways. We find that the economic upper class produced more infants and had more children who survived to adulthood than the lower social strata. While the upper class did not have lower infant and child mortality than the lower class, they had more surviving children because of their shorter birth intervals and lower female age at marriage. Crop prices did not affect mortality or fertility before 1820. From 1820 onwards, high crop prices were associated with increased child (but not infant) mortality and with extended inter-birth intervals. We believe this period-sensitive response to changes in the crop price was the result of a social transition that took place during our study period, in which relations between the classes went from being based on communal “table fellowships” (Tischgemeinschaft) to being based on capitalist employer/employee arrangements. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a1a62e4a13c14b3faf6771e761c636f9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2352-6343 2352-6343 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-12-01 |
| publisher | International Institute of Social History |
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| series | Historical Life Course Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-a1a62e4a13c14b3faf6771e761c636f92025-02-02T14:31:55ZengInternational Institute of Social HistoryHistorical Life Course Studies2352-63432352-63432015-12-0122036Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874)Kai Willführ0Charlotte Störmer1Max Planck Institute for Demographic ResearchUtrecht UniversityIn this paper, we investigate how the reproductive behavior of families in the historical Krummhörn region was affected by their social status and by short-term fluctuations in their socioeconomic conditions. Poisson and Cox regression models are used to analyze the age at first reproduction, fertility, the sex ratio of the offspring, sex-specific infant/child survival, and the number of children. In addition, we investigate how fluctuations in crop prices affected infant and child mortality and fertility using Cox proportional regression models. We also include information about the seasonal climate that may have had an effect on crop prices, as well as on infant mortality via other pathways. We find that the economic upper class produced more infants and had more children who survived to adulthood than the lower social strata. While the upper class did not have lower infant and child mortality than the lower class, they had more surviving children because of their shorter birth intervals and lower female age at marriage. Crop prices did not affect mortality or fertility before 1820. From 1820 onwards, high crop prices were associated with increased child (but not infant) mortality and with extended inter-birth intervals. We believe this period-sensitive response to changes in the crop price was the result of a social transition that took place during our study period, in which relations between the classes went from being based on communal “table fellowships” (Tischgemeinschaft) to being based on capitalist employer/employee arrangements.http://hdl.handle.net/10622/23526343-2015-0006?locatt=view:masterKrummhörn (East Frisia)Reproductive StrategyEconomic FluctuationsCrop PriceInfant MortalityChild MortalityFertility |
| spellingShingle | Kai Willführ Charlotte Störmer Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) Historical Life Course Studies Krummhörn (East Frisia) Reproductive Strategy Economic Fluctuations Crop Price Infant Mortality Child Mortality Fertility |
| title | Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) |
| title_full | Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) |
| title_fullStr | Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) |
| title_short | Social Strata Differentials in Reproductive Behavior among Agricultural Families in the Krummhörn Region (East Frisia, 1720-1874) |
| title_sort | social strata differentials in reproductive behavior among agricultural families in the krummhorn region east frisia 1720 1874 |
| topic | Krummhörn (East Frisia) Reproductive Strategy Economic Fluctuations Crop Price Infant Mortality Child Mortality Fertility |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10622/23526343-2015-0006?locatt=view:master |
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