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Wednesday 24 March 2004 14:15
Y-3 FAM24 Marriage and family patterns in Europe
Y
Network: Family and Demography Chair: Rolf Gehrmann
Organizer: Rolf Gehrmann Discussant: Rolf Gehrmann
Renzo Derosas : Reproductive behavior in an urban population (Venice 1850-1950): a micro-analytic approach to the study of fertility transition
Studies on fertility transition have several and well-known
shortcomings. Among the most relevant, are:
- most analyses rely upon aggregate data;
- interactions with changes in mortality patterns tend to be ignored;
- changes are measured on a relatively short - usually decadal - scale.

In my paper, I follow a different approach. Firstly, I ... (Show more)
Studies on fertility transition have several and well-known
shortcomings. Among the most relevant, are:
- most analyses rely upon aggregate data;
- interactions with changes in mortality patterns tend to be ignored;
- changes are measured on a relatively short - usually decadal - scale.

In my paper, I follow a different approach. Firstly, I use
longitudinal information at the individual level, drawn from
population registers. Secondly, I study reproduction rather than
fertility, taking into account the interaction of fertility with
mortality, and testing how the actual composition of surviving children
affected reproductive decisions. Finally, my analisys considers
an unusually long period, spanning from 1850 to 1950, and including
therefore the period before, during, and after the demographic
transition. Proximate determinants of fertility and their evolution
as a consequence of the transition are studied using an Event History
Analysis Approach. (Show less)

Julie Marfany : Age at marriage and marriage strategies in Catalonia, 1680-1829
This paper draws on research carried out for my PhD thesis on "Industrialisation and demographic change in Catalonia, 1680-1829". I use results from a family reconstitution of a proto-industrial community, Igualada, to investigate issues relating to marriage behaviour over the long eighteenth century. Marriage has long been highlighted as one ... (Show more)
This paper draws on research carried out for my PhD thesis on "Industrialisation and demographic change in Catalonia, 1680-1829". I use results from a family reconstitution of a proto-industrial community, Igualada, to investigate issues relating to marriage behaviour over the long eighteenth century. Marriage has long been highlighted as one of the key mechanisms whereby changing economic circumstances impacted on marriage patterns in the past. Catalonia is of interest in this regard for three reasons. First, it experienced rapid population growth and intense proto-industrialisation during this period, in a manner comparable to that of many regions of northern Europe, but unique within the Iberian peninsula. Second, many areas of Mediterranean Europe do not appear to fit within the classic model of late marriage and relatively high levels of permanent celibacy which is supposed to have prevailed west of the "Hajnal line". Third, Catalonia was one of the areas of Spain which practised strict impartible inheritance, with around three-quarters of the family property going to the eldest son, or eldest daughter in the absence of sons. Marriage contracts were used to settle inheritance portions. This system of inheritance has traditionally been viewed as curtailing the marriage opportunities of younger children relative to the heirs.In this paper, I use ages at first marriage derived from the family reconstitution of Igualada to do three things. First, I show that mean age at first marriage fell for both sexes over the period 1680-1829, but that the fall was much more marked for men than for women. Age at first marriage for men fell from 25.5 years to 22.5 years. For women, the fall was more muted, from 23.2 years to a minimum of 21.0. These ages are at the lower end of the range of marriage ages found in Iberia, and across Europe. For men especially, age is low by Hajnal's standards. Second, I present these changes in age at marriage according to the occupations recorded in the marriage registers for grooms, and for the fathers of brides. For women, there was no discernible pattern. For men, the lowest ages at marriage were to be found among textile occupations, that is, within the proto-industrial sector. Age at first marriage fell across all occupational groups, however, so there was clearly more at work than simply a proto-industrial effect. Third, I use the ages at marriage in conjunction with a sample of marriage contracts to investigate the influence of inheritance not just on age at first marriage, but on the different marriage strategies pursued by families and individuals. Inheriting children did on average marry earlier than their younger siblings. The latter were also often condemned to downward social mobility or to celibacy. The marriage contracts show evidence of a wide range of strategies, however, including provision for other family members, settling of debts and the strengthening of links between particular families. Over time, though, marriage contracts were signed with decreasing frequency, suggesting that for most couples, the decision to marry was increasingly based not on considerations of property and status, but on different economic opportunities such as the ability to earn a wage within a rapidly changing economy. (Show less)

Mikolaj Szoltysek : On the margins of Northwest Europe? Household, family and property in an Upper Silesian parish (18th century)
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