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Saturday 15 April 2023 14.00 - 16.00
A-15 FAM08 Inequality and Power within Family
SEB salen (Z)
Network: Family and Demography Chair: Kersi Lust
Organizers: - Discussant: Michel Oris
Martin Kolk, Kieron Barclay & Joseph Molitoris : Parity Progression as Expressions of Sex Preferences for Children from 1950 to 2015 – a Global Comparative Analysis using Micro-level Data from 77 Countries
In the current study we take a global perspective on parity progression ratios as an expression of son preferences, daughter preferences, or a preference for a mixed-sex composition of children. In countries were fertility is largely planned, the sex composition of previously born children may have an effect of the ... (Show more)
In the current study we take a global perspective on parity progression ratios as an expression of son preferences, daughter preferences, or a preference for a mixed-sex composition of children. In countries were fertility is largely planned, the sex composition of previously born children may have an effect of the decision to have an additional child. We use pooled survey data from 77 developing countries using DHS data and 20 contemporary countries using the harmonized histories collection of survey datasets, studying trends from 1950 to 2015. We give a global overview of sex-based parity progression ratios using survival analysis models. This provides further comparative data on parity progressions, as well as introducing a new measure of gender equality, only based on demographic behavior. In addition, we relate sex preferences to other country-level characteristics. We use data on female political empowerment, measures of fertility context (TFR), and macroeconomic condition (GDP/capita), as well as other aspects of sex based preferences such as biased sex ratios both at birth (sex-selective abortion), and later in childhood (gender discrimination). (Show less)

Paul Puschmann, Yuzuru Kumon & Mohamed Saleh : Household Size and Composition in Nineteenth-century Egypt
The (Western) European Marriage Pattern (EMP) of women’s high age at first marriage and high celibacy rates has been used to explain the rise of Western Europe during the early modern period, generating much debate. Importantly, the EMP is also characterized by the tendency of newly formed couples to form ... (Show more)
The (Western) European Marriage Pattern (EMP) of women’s high age at first marriage and high celibacy rates has been used to explain the rise of Western Europe during the early modern period, generating much debate. Importantly, the EMP is also characterized by the tendency of newly formed couples to form their own independent nuclear households rather than to live with their parents. Historical demographers have long debated the historical existence of the nuclear family model, or lack thereof, both within and beyond Western Europe. However, the lack of historical individual-level data on household structure outside Europe and North America, has hampered analyses on non-Western societies, and the MENA region in particular.
The traditional MENA family has often been imagined as extended and patriarchal, perhaps based on early colonial encounters with tribal communities in the Levant and North Africa. This picture typically depicts a family that consists of several conjugal couples with offspring, and other family members – uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, etc. - living under one roof under the lead of the oldest man in the household. Furthermore, this extended household may also have complex blood relations, since Islamic law grants males the right to marry up to four women.
The objective of this paper is to put this depiction under scrutiny. For one, it is not clear ex ante to what degree multigenerational households existed in MENA countries before the 20th century. Low life expectancy might have prevented many families of building households consisting of three or more generations of family members. Others might have been able to live in multigenerational households only temporarily until death wiped out the oldest generation. It is also not clear how widespread polygamy was, since poorer men may have lacked the means to marry multiple wives, especially when competing with richer men over (a limited supply) of marriageable women.
Historical demographers who are interested in examining household composition in the MENA, had thus far to content themselves with twentieth-century data, as individual-level data were not available for earlier periods. This paper relies on two nationally representative individual-level samples of the 1848 and 1868 Egyptian censuses, which have been digitized by Mohamed Saleh from the original Arabic manuscripts at the National Archives of Egypt and disseminated through IPUMS International. The 1848 and 1868 Egyptian censuses predate the British occupation of Egypt in 1882. They are the earliest censuses in MENA to provide individual-level data on all household members.
We will use this dataset to document the household size and composition in Egypt in 1848 and 1868 and to explore variations by province, rural-urban residence, migration status, religion, and socio-economic status. We will then compare nineteenth-century Egyptian household patterns with those of Western European countries, as well as East-Asian societies, to determine how unique household size and composition in Egypt were. Finally, we analyze the determinants of these variations; for example, was the proximity to European immigrants in Cairo and Alexandria correlated with the formation of nuclear families, especially among non-Muslim minorities? (Show less)

Mikolaj Szoltysek : Patriarchy, Patrilocality, and Female Life Cycle Service in Historic Europe
Substantial disparities in the spatial distribution of female servants have existed in historic Europe. While these imbalances were thought to result from a wide range of factors, little empirical research has been done on the conditions that actually triggered such variations across the continent. In this paper I ask whether ... (Show more)
Substantial disparities in the spatial distribution of female servants have existed in historic Europe. While these imbalances were thought to result from a wide range of factors, little empirical research has been done on the conditions that actually triggered such variations across the continent. In this paper I ask whether patriarchal familial structures created specific “barriers of gender” that have suppressed female activities outside home. For this purpose, I explore how the interlocking occurrence of patrilineal inheritance and patrilocal residence - two core elements of the social construct of patriarchy, and the components of Gruber/Szoltysek’s Patriarchy Index – overlapped with the historical prevalence of female life cycle servants in Europe. The working hypothesis is that patriarchal societies, by placing a high premium on female honour and reproductive-cum-child-rearing activities, were less prone to allow for the circulation of young unmarried women as hired workers among non-related households. Accordingly, I will assess the extent to which the diverse patterns of female premarital labour supply hinge critically on variations in the focal discriminatory social institutions, or whether there are other important factors at play.
For this exercise I rely on the NAPP/Mosaic census database, which provides detailed information on more than 320 historical populations, from central Spain to western Siberia. The proportion of servants among unmarried women aged 15-24 years in each of the census populations will serve as the main variable of interest. The extent of patrilineality is measured with the proportion of elderly people (aged 65+) living with at least one married daughter in the same household, considered a good proxy for the “vertical” form of pre-mortem inheritance involving women. Patrilocality will be measured with the proportion of ever-married women aged 15-30 who reside with at least one adult male relative of their husband or his mother. Multivariate regression will be used to evaluate the relationship between the focal variable and the two main explanatory variables, while controlling for the inclusion of other relevant covariates (e.g., urban-rural distinction, demographic and environmental variability). (Show less)

Raquel Tovar Pulido : The Dowry in Castilian Law and its Characteristics in Southern Spain in the 18th Century
The study of the role of women in the family sphere in Europe during the Old Regime has led to interesting research on the figure of single women and widows (Wall, 2002; Moring, 2002; Beauvalet-Boutouyrie, 2016; Durães and Fauve-Chamoux, 2009; García González y Contente, 2017). The objective of this proposal ... (Show more)
The study of the role of women in the family sphere in Europe during the Old Regime has led to interesting research on the figure of single women and widows (Wall, 2002; Moring, 2002; Beauvalet-Boutouyrie, 2016; Durães and Fauve-Chamoux, 2009; García González y Contente, 2017). The objective of this proposal is to analyze the importance of the dowry as an advance of the legitimate assets that in inheritance law belonged to women. During the Old Regime, marriage was a crucial moment in the life cycle of women, because it meant leaving her family nucleus of origin and incorporating her into a new family with her husband. At the legal level, the wedding meant the transfer of the paternal legal authority to the legal dependence of the husband. While, at the patrimonial level, the woman's family had to endow her daughter, giving her part of the assets that belonged to her. This quantity were deducted from her legitimate paternal.
In Castilian Spanish law, marriage constituted a society in which the husband was in charge of managing the assets: on the one hand, they had the paraphernal assets that belonged to the woman and that could be made up of movable or real property. In this sense, the husband had to inform her of the benefits resulting from the administration of the assets of her wife, as well as they could be sold or invested but with the consent of the woman.
On the other hand, the spouses also enjoyed the content of the donations that had been made at the time of the marriage by the bride and groom's families. Among the most common donations are nuptials, these are the propter nuptias that the man gave to the woman in Spain. The legislation establishes that the “arras” or donation was delivered to ensure the fulfillment of the marriage promise. So that if one of the bride and groom did not comply and refused to marry, it would lose the amount delivered and the other would keep it.
The dowry letters included a list that contained the bride's trousseau, which was generally made up of household items and clothing. In addition, they could include a certain sum of money and in some they appear real estate. At the end of the dowry document, the amount of money that the husband gave to the wife as a donation was indicated as a deposit.
To approach the transmission of property to daughters in 18th century Spain, it has been analyzed a total of 61 dowry letters, which belonged to widowed and single women from the kingdoms of Córdoba and Jaén who married between 1754 and 1800: 49 dowries for single women and 12 dowries for widows have been studied. The analysis of which has been relevant because they offer significant data about the value of the dowry in first marriages and second marriages, which was also conditioned by the guardianship of minor children conceived in previous marriages. (Show less)



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