Migrants and the Diffusion of Low Marital Fertility in Belgium

Abstract

Although the diffusion of fertility behavior between different social strata in historical communities has received considerable attention in recent studies, the relationship between the diffusion of fertility behavior and the diffusion of people (migration) during the nineteenth century remains largely underexplored. Evidence from population registers compiled in the Historical Database of the Liège Region, covering the period of 1812 to 1900, reveals that migrant couples in Sart, Belgium, from 1850 to 1874 and from 1875 to 1899 had a reduced risk of conception. The incorporation of geographical mobility, as well as the migrant status of both husbands and wives, into this fertility research sheds light not only on the spread of ideas and behaviors but also on the possible reasons why the ideas and behaviors of immigrants might have been similar to, or different from, those of a native-born population.

Spatial and Social Distance at the Onset of the Fertility Transition: Sweden, 1880–1900

“…As discussed earlier, we believe that it could be a proxy for social connectedness through space and local social embeddedness. Migrants living far from their birthplace might have had better access to nonlocal sources of information (Szreter 1996) given that they frequently maintained contact with family and friends in their former places of residence (Creighton et al 2012). In addition, they may have been less embedded in local social and family control networks.…”

“…Elite women also might have been less embedded in local social control networks (Lesthaeghe 1980) for several reasons. First, many elite women were not living close to their place of birth (see upcoming Analytical Strategy section), and may therefore have been less subject to control by other family members (see also Creighton et al 2012). The situation was very different for women in farm families, whose lives were generally more focused on the area in which they were born (Klüsener et al 2017).…”

Revisiting the Fertility Transition in England and Wales: The Role of Social Class and Migration

“…The fertility decisions of city dwellers were possibly less influenced by the pressures of family, members of the older generation, and their home community to have larger families. Migration may also be correlated to fertility through co-determination by an unmeasured variable: migrants are likely to be selective of the more enterprising, ambitious, and open-to-innovation among members of the community they leave (Creighton et al 2012 ). These characteristics may produce both longer-distance migration and a willingness to adopt new fertility-controlling strategies.…”

“…These characteristics may produce both longer-distance migration and a willingness to adopt new fertility-controlling strategies. However, the disruptive nature of migration, coupled with the difficulties of integrating into a new environment, may have also left migrants disinclined to have large families, particularly when they had no local or familial support networks in their new place of residence (Creighton et al 2012 ).…”

Domestic servants and diffusion of fertility control in Flanders, 1830–1930

“…Yet, servants should also be considered as a very particular group of migrants (Piette, 2000). Migrants have received little attention in fertility studies (Creighton, Matthys, & Quaranta, 2012). The few studies that did account for migrants' fertility took the point of view of the receiving context, investigating how immigrants adapted to the fertility regime in their destination.…”