Title: Marital fertility and wealth during the fertility transition: rural <scp>F</scp>rance, 1750–1850
Abstract: It has been long established that the demographic transition began in eighteenth‐century F rance, yet there is no consensus on exactly why fertility declined. This analysis links fertility life histories to wealth at death data for four rural villages in F rance, 1750–1850. For the first time, the wealth–fertility relationship during the onset of the F rench fertility decline can be analysed. Where fertility is declining, wealth is a powerful predictor of smaller family size. This article argues that fertility decline in F rance was a result of changing levels of economic inequality, associated with the 1789 R evolution. In cross‐section, the data support this hypothesis: where fertility is declining, economic inequality is lower than where fertility is high.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-10-10
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 57
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