Widowhood, family size, and post-reproductive Mortality

A comparative Analysis of three populations in Nineteenth-Century Europe

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10967641
AutoresGeorge Alter (0000-0003-3823-4972, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research and Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, P.O. Box 1248, Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248, autor de correspondencia), M Dribe (0000-0003-2340-4668, Center for Economic Demography and Department of Economic History, Lund University, USA), F W A Van Poppel (0000-0002-1118-4541, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute), Frans Van Poppel (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, Netherlands)
Año2007
Volumen44
Número4
Páginas785-806
Fecha de publicación2007-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDemography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1353/dem.2007.0037
PMID18232211
OpenAlexW2158968798
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas28
Referencias citadas75

Researchers from a number of disciplines have offered competing theories about the effects of childbearing on parents’ postreproductive longevity. The “disposable soma theory” argues that investments in somatic maintenance increase longevity but reduce childbearing. “Maternal depletion” models suggest that the rigors of childrearing increase mortality in later years. Other researchers consider continued childbearing a sign of healthy aging and a predictor of future longevity. Empirical studies have produced inconsistent and contradictory results. Our focus is on the experience of widowhood, which has been ignored in previous studies. We hypothesize that the death of a spouse is a stressful event with long-term consequences for health, especially for women with small children. Data are drawn from historical sources in Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands from 1766 to 1980. Postreproductive mortality was highest among young widows with larger families in all three samples. Age at last birth had little or no effect. We conclude that raising children under adverse circumstances can have long-lasting, harmful effects on a mother’s health

Developed country · Geography · Historical demography · Population · Research methodology · Sociology · Birth, Development, and Health · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Historical and modern epidemiology studies