Social Status and Family Size of Iranian Industrial Employees

In a recent analysis of the social structure of pre-industrial cities, Sjoberg has suggested that in these cities parents in the urban upper class have more offspring who reach adulthood than do the lower strata.1 He argues that this difference is brought about by the lower mortality of the upper classes rather than by any social class differences in fertility. In view of the increasing number of pre-industrial cities which are exposed to the process of modernization and industrialization, one pertinent question is the effect of this process on the relationship described by Sjoberg. If it is the upper classes who benefit most from this process, there might be an accentuation in the class differential in family size brought about by the further reduction in the mortality of the upper classes. But the new economic and social conditions may bring about an initial decrease in fertility which would offset the decline in mortality

Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving

• Fertility trends by social status

  Open Access•Vegard Skirbekk•Demographic Research•2008

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• The preindustrial city

  Gideon Sjoberg•The preindustrial city

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