Online lecture 9 – Family reconstitution application in event history models

Lecturers: Dr. Péter Őri, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute

Content: The lecture provides an overview of infant and child mortality prior to the demographic transition, paying particular attention to differences by sex, age group, parental socioeconomic status, historical period, season, and the impact of different family settings (e.g. parental loss and remarriage, the death of a previously born child, and having siblings). In addition to a theoretical introduction, it presents results from macro-level statistics and individual longitudinal micro-analyses relating to Hungarian communities.

Objectives: The lecture provides information on the levels and determinants of pre-modern infant and child mortality, and the historical sources that enable their analysis. It also explores the application of family reconstitution data in event history models.

Requirements: Active participation.

Recommended reading:

• Edvinsson, S., & Janssens, A. (2012). Clustering of deaths in families: Infant and child mortality in historical perspective. Biodemography and Social Biology, 58(2), 75–86. 6. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 19485565.2012.738575
• Jaadla, H., & Lust, K. (2021). The effect of parental loss on child survival in nineteenth century rural Estonia. The History of the Family, 26(2), 336–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2021. 1905022
• Oris, M., & Ochiai, E. (2002). Family crisis in the context of different family systems: Framework and evidence on «When Dad Died». In R. Derosas & M. Oris (Eds.), When Dad Died. Individuals and families copying with family stress in past societies (pp. 17–80). Peter Lang.
• Oris, M., Derosas, R., & Breschi, M. (2004). Infant and child mortality. In T. Bengtsson, C. Campbell, J. Z. Lee (Eds.), Life under pressure. Mortality and living standards in Europe and Asia, 1700–1900 (pp. 360–398). MIT Press.
• Schacht, R., Meeks, H., Fraser, A., & Smith, K. R. (2021). Was Cinderella just a fairy tale? Survival differences between stepchildren and their halfsiblings. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society, 376(1827), 20200032. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0032
• Sear, R., & Coall, D. (2011). How much does family matter? Cooperative breeding and the demographic transition. Population and Development Review, 37(Supplement), 81–112. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2011.00379.x
• Willführ, K. P., & Gagnon, A. (2012). Are stepmothers evil or simply unskilled? Infant death clustering in recomposed families. Biodemography and Social Biology, 58(2), 149–161. https://doi.org/10. 1080/19485565.2012.734745
• Willführ, K. P., & Gagnon, A. (2013). Are step-parents always evil? Parental death, remarriage, and child survival in demographically saturated Krummhörn (1720–1859) and expanding Québec (1670–1750). Biodemography and Social Biology, 59(2), 191–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 19485565.2013.833803

You can find the presentation in .pdf here.