Between 1790 and 1840, median completed family size in New England genealogies fell by half. Age at marriage rose only moderately during this period, but the rate of premarital pregnancy plummeted, intervals between births lengthened, and mothers' age at last birth fell to thirty-seven. Analysis of the number of children born to a subset of mothers younger than thirty in various Connecticut and New Hampshire towns c. 1818 suggests that couples' motives for postponing births appear to have been as much cultural as economic.
This study draws upon a large sample of probated estates from early Connecticut and Massachusetts. It finds that total probate wealth per adult male grew slowly over the colonial period and its growth was confined entirely to real estate. The value of consumption goods per estate fell during the early eighteenth century which raises questions about the impact of economic growth on household life.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.