Structure and strategy. Two rural communities in the Kempen region of Belgium, 1850–1910

This article starts with a methodological question: By carrying out a structural analysis of a local community, is it possible to gain insight into the labor strategies of the families within that community? This structural analysis is based on the reconstruction and integration of population, labor, and income data of individual households within two villages in 19th century Belgium. Basically, this exercise is to understand two sets of correlations: (a) between social differentiation and the family cycle and (b) between shifts in the social relationship between families and generations and the survival strategies of those families. This article shows that a structural approach to labor and income strategies can reveal how and why former strategies can lose their relevance and new choices are made relating to new networks of solidarity.     

The relationship between parents and adult children in the economic culture of rural Netherlands, 1880–1910

This study examines the complexity of contradictory interests in the relationship between parents and adult children among agricultural wage laborers in rural Netherlands about 1900. One important potential issue of conflict was the marriage of children. In the case of wage laborers, Hajnal's independent livelihood theory is not really helpful in explaining regional differences in age at marriage. Marriage is viewed as a problem of balance and competition between the livelihood problems of parents and children. Two main issues of wage laborers are dealt with: the help adult children give to elderly parents and the control of the earnings of unmarried adolescent and adult children by their parents. Regional variations in children's help and parental control are measured and explained using four independent variables: extent of property ownership by wage laborers, extent of their production for the market (and need for unpaid family labor), wage level, and percentage who belonged to traditional religions in the village. Statistical analysis suggests that the property of agricultural wage laborers was most important in explaining variation in parent–child relationships. Wage level and religion also showed considerable explaining power, particularly for wages earned by unmarried children.     

Network migration,marriage patterns,and adaptation in rural Portugal and among Portuguese immigrants in Argentina, 1870–1980

This article examines marriage patterns among immigrants and their children as a way to analyze the interplay of primary social networks and local conditions in the social adaptation of two communities of Portuguese immigrants in Argentina. Its main focus is on the factors involved in marriages within the same ethnic group and their evolution over time from a comparative perspective. The analysis considers aspects of marital selection in the main places of origin of the immigrants in the Algarve, southern Portugal, and their influence in the places of settlement; the factors that influenced the selection of spouses in both communities by gender and over time; and the changes from the first to the second generation. Factors, such as gender, the nature and rhythm of immigration, and the occupation of the immigrants and their families, proved very important in marital selection. Environmental factors were also significant. Oil production dominated Comodoro Rivadavia, while intensive family farming in a suburban setting characterized Villa Elisa. Through the comparative analysis of these two contrasting, receiving societies, the article examines the interplay between primary social networks based on national and ethnic origin and socioeconomic local conditions.     

Gender aspects of inheritance strategies and land transmission in rural Scania,Sweden, 1720–1840

This study deals with gender aspects of land transmissions in pre-industrial Sweden. Although not supported by law, a clear mentality of male primogeniture among peasants existed in the Swedish countryside in the 18th century. In many cases, however, this ideal could never be realized, making the idea of the “family farm,” handed down from father to son for generations, more of a myth than a reality. This study uses postmortem inventories linked to tax registers and family reconstitutions for a sample of parishes in southern Sweden to show that various strategies were chosen when transferring the farm after the death of the husband or wife. Although sons were more likely to take over the farms, daughters (or more correctly sons-in-law) also frequently did so, as did, sometimes, more distant kin and non-kin. Moreover, it was not the case, as has sometimes been maintained, that daughters took over the farm only when no able-bodied sons were available. On the contrary, daughters (sons-in-law) quite frequently took over the farm even when sons were present. The decision on land transmission was part of a more general family strategy concerning reproduction (access to marriage and household formation) as well as old-age security.     

Stem families in rural northwestern Germany? Family systems,intergenerational relations and family contracts

The article investigates intergenerational social relations, distribution of power and mutual rights and obligations within rural families in nineteenth-century Westphalia. Following Frédéric Le Play and Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl, historiography assumes the predominance of a stem family system in northwestern Germany. However, the definition of ‘stem family’ is still not well determined to date. In particular, the question of paternal authority pertains to the core concept of stem families, but has received rather little attention in historical research. The article argues that there are good reasons to question the adequacy of the notion of ‘stem family’ for northwestern Germany. Using farm and house transfer contracts as qualitative sources, the strong position of farm heirs will be demonstrated. These contracts settled relationships between family members after intergenerational transition, especially for different types of family composition. Ageing parents were confronted with children having alternative options to make a living and had to make far-reaching concessions if they wanted a child to stay and work or respectively care for them. Even parents who still wanted to manage the farm on their own gave up the property rights in order to keep a son or a daughter as labour force and care-taker on the farm. This points to considerable bargaining power of adult children, and strongly diminished parental authority even in multiple households.     

Inheritance,succession, and familial transfer in rural Westphalia, 1800–1900

This article compares property transfer contracts between generations in two Prussian parishes where marital law differed significantly in the 19th century. Our sources focus on two critical phases in peasants' life cycles at the time. Whereas young people could find the resources to settle down, the older generation had to plan for their retirement. Although sons had a better chance of inheriting the farm, female successors were not rare. A peasant daughter's overall prospects of becoming a peasant by inheriting her parent's farm or marrying a farm successor were almost as good as her brother's. The situation for older women, however, was subject to their legal standing with regards to marital property. When couples held joint marital property, men and women had the same opportunities to arrange for retirement. In contrast, when couples held separate marital property and male succession prevailed, older women were at an evident disadvantage.     

Structural convergence in Russia’s economic transition, 1990–2002

This paper examines structural change in Russia’s transition in 1990–2002 as measured by the changing composition of output, employment, and end use of GDP. Using an international panel data sets as a frame of reference, it calculates a series of indexes to determine the extent to which the Russian economy is converging towards market economies in the course of market transformation. Our methodology lets us analyze the changes in the structural profile of the economy using the entirety of the available data rather than individual performance indicators. We find that Russia has become structurally similar to the benchmark market economies in the upper-middle income group and the lower tier of high-income countries. At the same time, the extent of labor reallocation remains inadequate and Russia’s pattern of consumption remains distorted due to the incomplete price liberalization.

Physical growth and ethnic inequality in New Zealand prisons, 1840–1975

The British colonization of New Zealand after 1840 was marked by an unusual concern compared to other settler colonies to incorporate the indigenous Māori population into the new society. But despite a continuing political rhetoric of protection and sovereignty, Māori have historically had lower living standards and, since the 1920s, higher rates of incarceration than European-descended New Zealanders (Pākehā). In this article, the authors examine differences between Māori and Pākehā over 130 years using prison records. Aggregate data from the Ministry of Justice shows long-term change and differences in incarceration rates. Using a data set of all extant registers of men entering New Zealand prisons, the authors show change over time in convictions and in height. The adult statures of Māori and Pākehā were similar for men born before 1900, but marked differences emerged among cohorts born during the twentieth century. By the Second World War, the gap in adult stature widened to around 3 cm, before narrowing for men born after the Second World War. Periods of divergence in stature are paralleled by divergence in fertility and indicators of family size, suggesting the possibility that increasing fertility stressed the economic situation of Māori families. The prison evidence suggests that inequalities in ‘net nutrition’ between Māori and Pākehā are long-standing but not unchanging – indeed, they increased for cohorts born in the early twentieth century. A subset of the data describing adolescents confirms that, among those born after 1945, the ethnic differential was already visible by the age of 16.     

Forename,family, and society in southwest france (Eighteenth–nineteenth centuries)

In the southwestern part of France—the land of the `familles souches' (stem families)—naming practices fulfilled many different roles. According to the classical naming practice, the first name given to the child expressed the idea that it was a member of a social group and part of a genealogical chain. The name was given by the godparents, who themselves were chosen by the biological parents according to a set of strict social norms. The spiritual parents had a privileged relation with their godchild. Important changes, however, occurred in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Now the increased frequency of multiple forenames and the influence of fashion signified that the first name had come to have the new function of underscoring a person's individuality rather than integrating him or her into kinship groups.     

Immigrants,their children,and theories of assimilation: Family structure in the United States, 1880–1970

This research employs United States census data from 1880 to 1970 to assess the influence of ethnicity and generation on the family structure of Mexican, Irish, Swedish, Italian, Polish, and native white children. Using evidence for three generations, it tests two theories, linear assimilation and segmented assimilation. Assimilation theory makes no special claims for ethnic effects, but segmented assimilation proposes that ethnicity influences the incorporation of immigrant-origin children into American society. We find few consistent ethnic effects on the probability of family type. Our principal finding is that migration itself, common to all groups, has similar consequences for all; these are revealed in generational changes in family structure. The historical periods of open immigration do differ from the contemporary period, which implies that immigration policy affects family structure. The results disconfirm segmented assimilation theory's emphasis on ethnicity in family structure, and confirm aspects of linear assimilation theory. They point to the salience of structural factors resulting from the migration process and policy, rather than ethnicity, in the evolution of family form among immigrant-origin persons.     

Differentials in overall and cause-specific mortality among infants born in and out of wedlock,Stockholm 1878–1925

This study investigates differentials in the decline of cause-specific infant mortality by marital status of the mother in Stockholm (1878–1925) and factors contributing to the explanation of these differentials using computerized records of individual entries from the Roteman Archives. Included in the analysis were 120,094 children less than 1 year of age who lived in Södermalm during this period. Cause-specific mortality rates were calculated for three time periods. Cox's regression analysis was used to study the relationship between overall and cause-specific risk of infant death and of being born in and out of wedlock in relation to a set of variables. Infant mortality rates and mortality risks were higher among children born out of rather than in wedlock. The most pronounced differentials in cause-specific mortality rates between these groups of children were seen in cases of diarrhea. The socioeconomic status of the household head and number of children in the household were statistically significant with infant mortality, but explain only part of the excess mortality risk of children born out of wedlock. In Stockholm at the turn of the 19th century being born out of wedlock was strongly associated with poor health outcomes, particularly in diarrheal diseases, pneumonia/bronchitis, and immaturity/congenital causes.     

Widows,children and assistance from society in urban Northern Europe 1890–1910

The increasing urbanisation and industrialisation of the late 19th century promoted migration of families and individuals into the growing towns. As a consequence the protective network of kinship and village was lost. In the process the access to household production was also severely decreased. After the death of a husband in a labourer's household the widow had to face a difficult situation. The aim of this paper is to assess the standard of living of poor widows in the Nordic countries. To estimate the proportion of intrafamilial contributions, the role of the wider kinship group and to calculate level of support from poor relief authorities and other possible sources.     

Age and family structures among the Jews of Mitau,Kurland, 1833–1834

The article analyzes an 1834 listing of the Jewish inhabitants in the city of Mitau in the province of Kurland, one of the Baltic provinces (the other two were Estland and Livland) of the Russian Empire. From Catherine the Great's reign onward, the Jewish population of the Baltic provinces rose steadily throughout the 19th century, but microstudies of Jewish communities in the region are virtually nonexistent, especially for the first half of the century. The Mitau list shows that the Jewish population there was very young, with about 45% being in the age group 0–14. Age at first marriage for males was about 24 years, and for females 21. From about age 35, 93% of males and 97% of females were married. The mean size of the family group was 5.8 persons, and about a third of all families were either extended (containing unmarried relatives beyond the nuclear family) or multiple (more than one kin-linked conjugal family unit). Judging by kinship terms in the source, the kin system tilted toward patrilineality, as would be expected. These characteristics need to be compared to other Jewish communities before and after 1834—in the Baltic area and surrounding regions—but the paucity of local studies suggests that some time will pass before the Mitau findings can be placed in an adequate comparative framework.     

‘Women in Church,Men at the Public House’: religious experience in Romanian society, 1700–1830

This study analyzes religious practices in the Romanian lands in the long eighteenth century. Research for it was based on a series of largely unpublished archival documents which illustrate ordinary people's attitudes to faith, magic, superstition and the church. In periods of instability and insecurity, quite understandably, as daily worries become more acute, faith and religion step in to offer spiritual comfort. This study looks at spiritual practices in the Romanian old regime and explores the ways in which women and men used them as focal points for building sociability and solidarity networks.     

Cooperation and coordination among siblings: Brothers' migration in France, 1870–1940

Recent works emphasize the role of the family in migration decisions. They particularly insist on the specific schedule of mobility that depends not only on an individual life cycle but also on the situation of the whole family at a given time. French military registers provide us with very detailed longitudinal information on migrations, scarcely available in other sources. We consider the smallest family group, male siblings, and focus on their migration behaviours. We start by testing the simplest family indicator, birth rank, and we show that, by itself, it has no effect on migration decisions. We then study whether or not there is competition among siblings and, in particular, if the migration of one of them encourages or prevents mobility of the others. Comparing the chances for an individual to move before and after the migration of his brother, we show that brother mobility did have a positive influence on someone's own mobility. However, we find little evidence of the use of networks when looking at migrants' place of destination. Sons are more prone to move in a given family than in another but they don't go to the same places. Therefore, we argue that mobility appears as a collective decision that depends on family strategies. This approach sheds new light on the migration process while insisting on its family component.     

Aspects of childhood in rural Greece: Children in a mountain village (ca. 1900–1940)

This essay examines childhood in a mountain village in central mainland Greece during the early 20th century and the interwar period. It gives an overview of an analytical case study conducted by the author within the context of the project “Historical Archives of Greek Youth” at the Greek National Research Center. The article draws on various sources, although principally on oral evidence. After a brief survey of the general and local socioeconomic context, it looks at children's lives and socialization inside and outside the household, focusing on family economy and interfamilial relationships within the context of home, school, community, and play, and tracing the relations of these domains to family and household. It points to the existence of childhoods rather than childhood, defined by gender and the specific socioeconomic position of the family. It argues that rural mountain society in Greece did not see its future in agriculture and examines the extent to which school education of boys functioned as a means of family urbanization and social mobility. Children alternated between traditional social structures and urban living patterns.     

When women disappear from the labour market: occupational status of Dutch women at marriage in a modernizing society, 1865–1922

Between 1865 and 1922 the labour force participation of women at marriage dropped considerably in the Netherlands. At the same time, girls' educational participation increased and egalitarian gender values started to spread. We expect these developments to have affected the occupational status of those women who stayed in the labour market. Using a large dataset of Dutch marriages and municipal-level information on female labour force participation, educational participation, and an indicator of gender values, we show that women's status dropped until around 1885 and then started to rise. The retreat of women from the labour market coincided with a decline in the status of the women who remained, whereas, especially after 1900, the increasing educational participation of girls and the dissemination of egalitarian gender values counteracted this trend by causing women's status to rise.     

Trends in the proportion of married women of reproductive age in Spain, 1887–1991

Using the Princeton nuptiality index I_m, we analyzed historical developments in the proportion of married women of reproductive age in Spain. We show the internal diversity in nuptiality patterns and offer an explanatory statistical model based on panel data analysis to identify the main variables influencing these changes over more than a century (1887–1991). We found that Spain has been the developed country with the greatest contrasts in its provincial nuptiality patterns (measured by I_m), although this diversity has lessened over the course of time. We also found that some socioeconomic variables (the gross domestic product per capita and the percentage of population living in cities) do not have a linear relationship with female nuptiality but rather have a U shape or an inverted U shape. This may partly account for some of the controversy that has raged on this topic over the past few decades on an international level.