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. 2017 Apr;54(2):413-436.
doi: 10.1007/s13524-017-0556-4.

Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England

Francesco Cinnirella  1   2   3   4 , Marc Klemp  5   6   7 , Jacob Weisdorf  8   9   10
Affiliations

Malthus in the Bedroom: Birth Spacing as Birth Control in Pre-Transition England

Francesco Cinnirella et al. Demography. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

We use duration models on a well-known historical data set of more than 15,000 families and 60,000 births in England for the period 1540-1850 to show that the sampled families adjusted the timing of their births in accordance with the economic conditions as well as their stock of dependent children. The effects were larger among the lower socioeconomic ranks. Our findings on the existence of parity-dependent as well as parity-independent birth spacing in England are consistent with the growing evidence that marital birth control was present in pre-transitional populations.

Keywords: Birth control; Birth intervals; Fertility limitation; Preventive check; Spacing.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Average spacing by real-wage percentiles and occupational group
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The impact of parity on birth spacing
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