Family formation and social mobility

1
Family formation and social mobility

• Life courses in Amsterdam
• 1850-1940

2
Sources

• Census general figures
• Historische steekproef Nederland/Historical
  Sample of Netherlands
• Birth certificates 1860-1922
• Population register family composition and
  characteristics
• Marriage certificates
• Death certificates
• More dossiers of the social security, tax
  registers

3
Life courses

• Choices in life
• Transitions movements, marriage, leaving home,
  choice of profession
• Transitions have a timing
• Relate transitions to family characteristics and
  position of individual in family.

4
Research questions

• What explains changes in life courses and social
  mobility?
• Focus on family circumstances and individual
  transitions
• Possible relations
• Does family size influence chances of social
  mobility?
• Does age of marriage influence chances social
  mobility?
• Decline in death rate in family? birth
  control

5
Demographic transition

• Background
• Declining death rates
• Conscious birth control
• Lowering of age of marriage
• Increase in number of people married

6
Causes and consequences

• Better life conditions (hygiene, water supply,
  medicine)
• Higher wages
• New economic opportunities
• Women withdraw from labour market, spent more
  time on the family
• Children as investment goods education makes
  sense

7
GIS

• Changes of address spatial mobility in time
• New families spread or concentration?
• Characterize quarters in the town social
  categories, population, births, deaths, migrants
• New quarters vs old quarters
• Location of work and family

8
Population Amsterdam 1815-1940
 Jaar Aantal Toename (1830100)
     
1815 180.179  
1830 202.364 100,00
1840 211.349 104,44
1849 224.035 110,71
1859 243.304 120,23
1869 264.649 130,80
1879 317.011 156,65
1889 408.061 201,65
1899 510.853 252,44
1909 566.131 279,76
1920 647.427 319,93
1930 757.386 374,27
1940 803.073 396,85
9
Vital statistics
10
Marriage Fertility
 Jaren Aantal kinderen op 1000 gehuwde vrouwen (15-49j.)
18491850 259
18591860 243
1869-1870 243
18791880 267
18891890 247
18991900 224
19091910 173
1920 en 1921 154