Intergenerational Transmission of Reproductive Traits in Spain during the Demographic Transition

Abstract

In this paper intergenerational dimensions of reproductive behavior are studied within the context of the experience of a mid-sized Spanish town just before and during the demographic transition. Different indicators of reproduction are used in bivariate and multivariate approaches. Fertility shows a small, often statistically significant intergenerational dimension, with stronger effects working through women and their mothers than those stemming from the families of their husbands. These effects are materialized mainly through duration-related fertility variables, are singularly absent for variables such as age at first birth or birth intervals, and are much stronger in the case of firstborn daughters than with later siblings. There is a substantial increase in the strength of intergenerational effects during the course of the demographic transition, most visible in age at last birth and duration of reproduction (between women and their mothers), as well as in the effects working through the families of their husbands. These results underscore the on-going importance of biological dimensions of reproduction as well as the way attitudes toward reproduction are taught within the family. The changes identified in this study suggest that the transmission of values and attitudes became more important for reproductive outcomes during this period of demographic modernization.

Like Mother(-in-Law) Like Daughter? Influence of the Older Generation’s Fertility Behaviours on Women’s Desired Family Size in Bihar, India

“…Our finding differs from the few previous studies on intergenerational fertility transmission that considered both biological mother and mother-in-law. These extant studies commonly found that the correlation between biological mother’s number of children ever born and women’s number of children ever born was stronger than that between mother-in-law’s number of children ever born and women’s number of children ever born (Reher et al 2008). Nevertheless, this previous literature was carried out in the Western context with different kinship systems and living arrangements from rural India.…”

Intergenerational Wealth Transmission among Agriculturalists

“…Our higher estimates (0.165-0.213) are consistent with data showing correlations in effective family size of 0.29 between parents and sons and 0.18 between parents and daughters among Hutterites (Pluzhnikov et al 2007) when social constraints are limited, while our very low estimates appear to be related to high levels of social constraints (such as high rates of nonmarriage) that are likely to have affected some agricultural societies in the preindustrial past. However, it has also been found that RS is more highly heritable after the demographic transition than before it (Bittles, Murphy, and Reher 2008;Reher, Ortega, and Sanz-Gimeno 2008), so by excluding data on RS from societies showing evidence of a demographic transition, we may have limited our sample to societies with lower transmission of RS, thus biasing our averages downward.…”

SRRD_2016_10 Kolk & Hällsten Demographic and Educational Success of Decendants.pdf (Version: 1)

“…In pre-industrial societies the relationship is less clear and the relationship has been shown to be weak before the fertility transition (e.g. Reher et al 2008). The weak relationship in pre-industrial societies are likely related to that marital fertility was largely uncontrolled.…”