Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Deliberate birth spacing before the fertility transition in Europe

Evidence from nineteenth-century Belgium

Bibliographic Data

ID7980205
AuthorsJan Van Bavel (0000-0001-7250-6949, a Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume58
Issue1
Pages95-107
Publication date2004-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopulation Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0032-4728 • E-ISSN: 1477-4747
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0032472032000167706
PMID15204265
OpenAlexW2041319950
LanguageEN
Citations received70
References cited43

Many scholars have argued that deliberate birth spacing may have played a role before and during the modern fertility transition. There are good historical and theoretical reasons for this view, but it has proved to be hard to demonstrate convincingly that birth intervals were in fact partly determined by attempts at deliberate fertility control. This paper suggests a method of securing evidence on the issue for married couples. The method is applied to three cohorts living in a Belgian town in the nineteenth century. The findings indicate that, even before the fertility transition, couples in the working class were controlling their fertility by deliberate spacing

Birth control · Child birth · Demographic economics · Economics · Family planning · Fertility · Population · Pregnancy · Research methodology · Sociology · Transition (genetics) · Demography · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Gender Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History

  • The Effect of Fertility Limitation on Intergenerational Social Mobility

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•Journal of Biosocial Science•2006

  • The marginal valuation of fertility

    Open Access•J H Jones, R B Bird•Evolution and Human Behavior•2014

  • Distinguishing the Impact of Postponement, Spacing and Stopping on Birth Intervals

    Open Access•Ian M Timaeus, Tom A Moultrie•Journal of Biosocial Science•2013

  • Detecting Stopping and Spacing Behaviour in Historical Demography. A Critical Review of Methods

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•Population (English Edition•2004

  • The Role of Secularization on Marriage and Conception Seasonality Patterns

    Open Access•Hideko Matsuo, Koen Matthijs•Journal of Family History•2018

  • Distinguer contraception d'arrêt et contraception d'espacement. Revue des méthodes en démographie historique

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•Population•2004

  • Rethinking the Fertility Transition in Rural Aragón (Spain) Using Height Data

    Open Access•Francisco J Marco-Gracia, Margarita López-Antón•International Journal of…•2021

  • Male fertility between biology and the socioeconomic context news from the past (Alghero, 1866–1935)

    Open Access•Marco Breschi, A Fornasin et al.•Economics & Human Biology•2019

  • Family Matters

    Open Access•Saskia Hin•SSRN Electronic Journal•2007

  • Re-introducing the Cambridge Group Family Reconstitutions

    Open Access•George Alter, Gill Newton et al.•Historical Life Course Studies•2020

  • Using the Intermediate Data Structure (IDS) to Construct Files for Statistical Analysis

    Open Access•Luciana Quaranta•Historical Life Course Studies•2015

  • The Fall of Fertility in Tasmania, Australia, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

    Open Access•Helen Moyle•Historical Life Course Studies•2017

  • Dimensions of Rational Decision-Making during the Demographic Transition; Aranjuez (Spain) Revisited

    Open Access•David Reher, Glenn Sandström•Historical Life Course Studies•2015

  • The Interplay of Family Systems, Social Networks and Fertility in Europe Cohorts Born Between 1920 and 1960

    Open Access•Bastian Mönkediek, H Bras•Economic History of Developing…•2016

  • Detecting Stopping and Spacing Behaviour in Historical Demography

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•Population (English Edition•2004

  • Microanálisis comparado de la transición demográfica en tres islas de las Azores, siglos XVIII-XX

    Open Access•María Norberta Amorim, Francisco J Marco-Gracia et al.•Historia Agraria Revista de…•2021

  • How was the fertility transition carried out? Analysis of fertility control strategies and their evolution in rural Aragon, Spain (1880-1955)

    Open Access•Francisco J Marco-Gracia•Historia Agraria Revista de…•2018

  • Gender and fertility within the free churches in the Sundsvall region, Sweden, 1860–1921

    Johan Junkka, Edvinsson•The History of the Family•2015

  • Fertility control in historical China revisited

    Cameron D Campbell, Cameron Campbell et al.•The History of the Family•2010

  • Assessing gender discrimination during infancy and childhood using twins

    Open Access•Francisco J Marco-Gracia, Francisco J Beltrán Tapia•The History of the Family•2022

  • A mixed effects model of birth spacing for pre-transition populations

    Jan Van Bavel, Jan Kok•The History of the Family•2010

  • True or false? Nineteenth-century Sápmi fertility in qualitative vs. demographic sources

    Gabriella Nordin, Peter Sköld•The History of the Family•2012

  • Babylonian Populations, Servility, and Cuneiform Records

    Jonathan S Tenney•Journal of the Economic and…•2017

  • The complex fertility of indigenous Sami and non-reindeer-herding settlers in Jokkmokk 1815–1895

    Gabriella Nordin, Peter Sköld•Polar Geography•2013

  • Principles and Prospects of the Life Course Paradigm

    Jan Kok•Annales de Démographie Historique•2007

  • Spatial diffusion of fertility decline in northern Sweden, 1850-1950

    Johan Junkka•Annales de Démographie Historique•2020

  • Diffusion Effects in the European Fertility Transition

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•European Journal of Population /…•2004

  • Detecting Deliberate Fertility Control in Pre-transitional Populations

    Open Access•M Dribe, Francesco Scalone•European Journal of Population /…•2010

  • Deliberate Birth Spacing in Nineteenth Century Northern Sweden

    Open Access•Martin Kolk•European Journal of Population /…•2011

  • Lent impact on the seasonality of conceptions during the twentieth century in Spain

    Open Access•Carles Xavier Simó Noguera, Josep Lledó Benito et al.•European Journal of Population /…•2020

  • Birth Spacing in the Netherlands. The Effects of Family Composition, Occupation and Religion on Birth Intervals, 1820–1885

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel, Jan Kok•European Journal of Population /…•2004

  • Reconstruction of birth histories using children ever born and children surviving data from the 1900 and 1910 U.S. censuses

    Jason Daniel Hacker, J David Hacker•Historical Methods A Journal of…•2020

  • Deliberate control in a natural fertility population

    Open Access•Tommy Bengtsson, M Dribe•Demography•2006

  • Agency in Fertility Decisions in Western Europe During the Demographic Transition

    Open Access•David Sven Reher, David Reher et al.•Demography•2017

  • Spatial and Social Distance at the Onset of the Fertility Transition

    Open Access•Sebastian Klüsener, M Dribe et al.•Demography•2019

  • The Impact of Multiple Births on Fertility

    Open Access•George Alter, Jason Daniel Hacker•Demography•2024

  • Conjuring the Ghosts of Missing Children

    Open Access•Fabian Drixler, Fabian F Drixler•Demography•2015

  • Stop! Go! What Can We Learn About Family Planning From Birth Timing in Settler South Africa, 1835–1950

    Open Access•Jeanne Cilliers, Martine Mariotti•Demography•2021

  • Malthus in the Bedroom

    Open Access•Francesco Cinnirella, Marc Klemp et al.•Demography•2017

  • Twins Support the Absence of Parity-Dependent Fertility Control in Pretransition Populations

    Open Access•Gregory Clark, Neil Cummins et al.•Demography•2020

  • Further Evidence of Within-Marriage Fertility Control in Pre-Transitional England

    Open Access•Francesco Cinnirella, Marc Klemp et al.•Demography•2019

  • Childbearing Trajectories in a West African Setting

    Open Access•H Bras, Adrien Remund et al.•Demography•2023

  • Fertility responses to short-term economic stress

    Open Access•Jeanne Cilliers, Martine Mariotti et al.•Explorations in Economic History•2024

  • Fertility and mortality responses to short-term economic stress

    Open Access•Péter Őri, Levente Pakot•Explorations in Economic History•2025

  • The fertility response to price changes in a manorial society

    Open Access•Martin Klesment, Katherine Lust et al.•Explorations in Economic History•2025

  • Infant mortality and intra‐household competition in the Northern Islands of Orkney, Scotland, 1855–2001

    Open Access•Corey S Sparks, James W Wood et al.•American Journal of Physical…•2013

  • Parental Loss in Early Years and Adult Family Formation

    Open Access•Giulia Corti, Saverio Minardi•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2026

  • Survival and sex composition of offspring

    Mark Gortfelder, A Puur•Population Studies•2020

  • Mortality decline and reproductive change during the Dutch demographic transition

    Open Access•F W A Van Poppel, Frans Van Poppel et al.•Demographic Research•2012

  • An application of the variable-r method to subpopulation growth rates in a 19th century agricultural population

    Open Access•Corey S Sparks, Corey Sparks•Demographic Research•2009

  • Social-class differences in spacing and stopping during the historical fertility transition

    Open Access•Edoardo Redivo, M Dribe et al.•Demographic Research•2024

  • Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

    Open Access•Aliaksandr Amialchuk, Elitsa Dimitrova•Demographic Research•2012

  • Patterns of spatial proximity and the timing and spacing of bearing children

    Open Access•Bastian Mönkediek•Demographic Research•2020

  • Changing gender relations, declining fertility? An analysis of childbearing trajectories in 19th-century Netherlands

    Open Access•H Bras, Reto Schumacher•Demographic Research•2019

  • Historical reproductive patterns in developed countries

    Open Access•Jesús J Sánchez-Barricarte, Jesús Javier Sánchez Barricarte•Demographic Research•2018

  • The historical fertility transition at the micro level

    Open Access•Tommy Bengtsson, M Dribe•Demographic Research•2014

  • Does socioeconomic status matter? The fertility transition in a northern Italian village (marriage cohorts 1900-1940)

    Open Access•R Rettaroli, Alessandra Samoggia et al.•Demographic Research•2017

  • Social class and net fertility before, during, and after the demographic transition

    Open Access•M Dribe, Francesco Scalone•Demographic Research•2014

  • Worldwide fertility declines do not rely on stopping at ideal parities

    Daniel J Hruschka, R Sear et al.•Population Studies•2019

  • A new estimate of permanent sterility by age

    Henri Leridon•Population Studies•2008

  • Fertility and contraception

    Miguel Requena Y Díez De Revenga, David Reher et al.•Population Studies•2023

  • Why a long-term perspective is beneficial for demographers

    Open Access•A Reid•Population Studies•2021

  • Long-term effects of childbearing on mortality

    M Dribe•Population Studies•2004

  • Rethinking Historical Reproductive Change

    Open Access•David Sven Reher, David Reher et al.•Population and Development Review•2007

  • Economic and Social Implications of the Demographic Transition

    Open Access•David Reher, David S Reher•Population and Development Review•2011

  • On Postponement and Birth Intervals

    Open Access•Ian M Timaeus, Tom A Moultrie•Population and Development Review•2008

  • Trends in Inter-Birth Intervals in Developing Countries 1965-2014

    Open Access•John B Casterline, Colin Odden•Population and Development Review•2016

  • The Evolution of Models in Historical Demography

    George Alter, George C Alter•The Journal of Interdisciplinary…•2019

  • Ready to stop

    Open Access•Joseph Molitoris, M Dribe•The Economic History Review•2016

  • La préférence pour les fils dans une société de métayers

    Open Access•Matteo Manfredini, Marco Breschi et al.•Population•2017

  • Determinants of fertility in developing countries

    Rodolfo A Bulatao, Ronald Demos Lee•Determinants of fertility in…•1983

  • Family and the female life course

    George Alter•Family and the female life course•1988

  • The fertility revolution

    Richard A Easterlin•The fertility revolution•1985

  • Event History Analysis

    Paul D Allison, Paul Allison•Event History Analysis•1984

  • Fertility, Class and Gender in Britain, 1860–1940

    Open Access•Simon Szreter•Fertility, Class and Gender in…•1996

  • Demographic Behavior in the Past

    Open Access•John E Knodel, John Knodel•Demographic Behavior in the Past•1988

  • Fertility Change on the American Frontier

    Lee L Bean, Geraldine P Mineau et al.•Fertility Change on the American…•1990

  • Poverty

    B Seebohm Rowntree•Poverty•1997

  • The Decline of Fertility in Europe

    Ansley Johnson Coale, Susan Cotts Watkins•Decline of Fertility in Europe•2017

  • Demografische en sociale structuren te Leuven (1846-1860). Bijdrage tot de stadsgeschiedenis in de 19e eeuw

    G L De Brabander, Michel Magits•The Economic History Review•1975

  • Evidence of fertility regulation among rural French villagers, 1749–1789

    Open Access•Paul A David, Thomas A Mroz•European Journal of Population /…•1989

  • Evidence of fertility regulation among rural french villagers, 1749–1789

    Open Access•Paul A David, Thomas A Mroz•European Journal of Population /…•1989

  • Connections between Intergenerational and Marital Mobility

    Jan Van Bavel, Hilde Peeters et al.•Historical Methods A Journal of…•1998

  • Family Control, Bridal Pregnancy, and Illegitimacy

    Jan Van Bavel•Social Science History•2001

  • New Sources for Social and Demographic History

    Myron P Gutmann, Etienne Van De Walle•Social Science History•1978

  • Family Control, Bridal Pregnancy, and Illegitimacy

    Open Access•Jan Van Bavel•Social Science History•2001

  • Estimating birth stopping and spacing behavior

    Open Access•Douglas C Ewbank•Demography•1989

  • What Do We Know About the Timing of Fertility Transitions in Europe

    Open Access•Timothy W Guinnane, Barbara S Okun et al.•Demography•1994

  • Measuring sterility from incomplete birth histories

    Open Access•Ulla Larsen, Jane Menken•Demography•1989

  • Birth spacing and fertility limitation

    Open Access•Douglas L Anderton, Lee L Bean•Demography•1985

  • Birth spacing and child mortality in bangladesh and the Philippines

    Open Access•Jane Miller, Jane E Miller et al.•Demography•1992

  • Starting, stopping, and spacing during the early stages of fertility transition

    Open Access•John Knodel•Demography•1987

  • Fertility Change on the American Frontier

    D S Smith, Lee L Bean et al.•Journal of American History•1991

  • Household Strategies for Survival

    Open Access•Laurence Fontaine, Jürgen Schlumbohm•International Review of Social…•2000

  • Weathering the Storm

    Peter N Stearns, Wally Seccombe•History of Education Quarterly•1994

  • The Demographic Transition Then and Now

    Open Access•Dov Friedlander, Barbara S Okun et al.•Journal of Family History•1999

  • The effects of breastfeeding and birth spacing on infant and early childhood mortality in Ethiopia

    David P Lindstrom, Betemariam Berhanu•Biodemography and Social Biology•2000

  • Uncertain Aims and Tacit Negotiation

    Open Access•Kate Fisher•Population and Development Review•2000

  • The Adoption of Fertility Control on Mykonos, 1879-1959

    Violetta Hionidou•Population Studies•1998

  • Effects of Inter-Birth Intervals and Breastfeeding on Infant and Early Childhood Mortality

    Alberto Palloni, Sara Millman•Population Studies•1986

  • The Mechanisms of Demographic Change in Historical Perspective

    John C Caldwell•Population Studies•1981

  • Anchored Narratives

    D J Van De Kaa•Population Studies•1996

  • Coitus interruptusand the Control of Natural Fertility

    Gigi Santow•Population Studies•1995

  • Reassessing the Contraceptive Effect of Breastfeeding

    Gigi Santow•Population Studies•1987

  • Does an effect of marriage duration on pre-transition fertility signal parity-dependent control? An empirical test in nineteenth-century Leuven, Belgium

    Jan Van Bavel•Population Studies•2003

  • Weathering the Storm

    Katherine A Lynch, Wally Seccombe•The Journal of Interdisciplinary…•1995

  • On the Measurement of Human Fertility

    Open Access•Susan Teper•Sociology•1975

Unique citing works70
Citations per year3,18
Citation span2004 - 2026 (23)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 64

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae