BACKGROUND The influence of spousal relations on reproductive outcomes has received considerable attention in the demographic literature. Previous studies have shown the complex interplay between age difference, female autonomy, and reproductive outcomes, but only a few have focused on historical high-fertility populations. OBJECTIVE This study investigates the associations between spousal age difference and the timing of first and higher order births, as well as the total number of children born. METHODS Data from the Demographic Data Base (married women, born between 1840 and 1889, first marriages only) are used to construct individual life courses in central and northern Sweden. The relative risk of age-homogamous and age-heterogamous couples having a child is examined using event history analysis. Poisson regression is applied to identify the effects of age difference on the total number of children born. RESULTS After controlling for the age of the wife, women in wife-older marriages show higher hazard rates for the transition to first and later order births compared to women in agehomogamous marriages. By contrast, women in husband-older marriages show lower hazard rates for the transition between births, with the exception of first childbirth. However, the net effect of spousal age difference on the total number of children ever born is small. CONTRIBUTION This study provides empirical evidence of the association between spousal age gap and fertility outcomes, using the spousal age gap as a proxy for conjugal power. It shows that women in wife-older marriages used their greater female autonomy to shorten the

Relatives play an important role in human reproduction according to evolutionary theories of reproductive behavior, but previous empirical studies show large differences in the effects of kin on fertility outcomes. In our paper we examine the effect of co-resident kin and non-kin on the length of birth intervals over the reproductive life course of Dutch women born between 1842 and 1920. We estimate Cox proportional hazard models for parity progression based on the presence of kin and non-kin in the household while controlling for a large number of individual and community-level characteristics. We find that couples living with their brothers experienced shorter birth intervals whereas couples residing with a widowed father had relatively longer birth intervals. The effects of these types of kin on reproduction were most pronounced up to the birth of the fifth child, but not thereafter. We found no effect for mothers or other types of kin.Keywords Kin . Co-residence . Birth spacing . Inclusive fitness . The Netherlands Co-resident kin and non-kin may play an important role in human reproduction (Johow and Voland 2012;Sear and Coall 2011;Tymicki 2004). Because of the relatively short interval between successive births and the long period during which newborns are dependent on others for their nutrition, parents behave as "cooperative breeders" (Hrdy 2005(Hrdy , 2008. This means that parents rely on other people-alloparents-who provide assistance in the form of care or resources, thereby helping to raise offspring and enabling parents to increase their reproductive outcomes (Hrdy 1999(Hrdy , 2009Kramer 2010). According to Hamilton's rule, kin assist in producing and raising offspring because of the indirect fitness benefit that this cooperative behavior yields (Hamilton 1964a, b). Recent empirical studies, many of which cover observations from contemporary and historical pre-transition societies, find that reproductive outcomes are indeed associated with the availability of kin assistance (Pollet et al.

Many studies report positive correlations between family sizes of successive generations, but the degree of correlation varies between countries. However, the majority of these studies are limited in geographical scope and do not consider the role of regional family organisation principles, that is, family systems. In this paper, we investigate to what extent regional family systems explain geographical differences in intergenerational transmission of family size among European regions. Using the large-scale European Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we derive indicators of regional family systems based on average frequency of contact and geographical distance between kin. We use a multilevel random coefficients model to test for differences in the transmission between European regions, as well as between sons and daughters. We find a complex regional pattern of family influences on childbearing continuities, with considerable within-country variation. We observe a direct effect of parental fertility on offspring fertility, although sons show more variance than daughters. This transmission of fertility can be attributed to regional family systems for sons, but not for daughters. Our results demonstrate the importance of using a regional approach -rather than the country-level approach -to study intergenerational continuities in childbearing.

Bien que mal perçues, les grossesses prénuptiales étaient un phénomène courant au début du xx e siècle, aux Pays-Bas, comme dans beaucoup d’autres pays européens. Leur nombre diffère cependant, tant régionalement que socialement, sans qu’il n’existe d’explication claire à ces variations. La sexualité avant le mariage était risquée au regard des méthodes contraceptives alors utilisées. Qui a pris ces risques et dans quelles circonstances ? Qu’est-ce qui, dans l’environnement des couples non mariés, les a « autorisé » ou « empêché » d’avoir des relations sexuelles ? Quel rôle joue l’environnement de ces adolescents ? Quel est le rôle de leurs pairs, de leurs parents, de leur église ? Dans cet article, nous utilisons une base de données de presque dix mille mariages féconds (contractés entre 1870 et 1950) comprenant des informations détaillées sur les antécédents familiaux des époux. Nous avons également combiné cette base de données à un questionnaire sur les coutumes locales du début du xx e siècle, ce qui a permis d’effectuer une analyse multiniveau sur la probabilité de la survenue d’une grossesse prémaritale en fonction (simultanément) de la classe sociale, de la religion, de la composition de la famille et des caractéristiques des couples eux-mêmes (niveau d’homogamie). L’analyse est centrée sur les normes communales du calendrier de séduction (à quel moment débute-t-il ?) mais surtout sur les pratiques locales concernant le chaperonnage de ces rencontres amoureuses. Nos résultats confirment des constats antérieurs selon lesquelles les grossesses prénuptiales aux Pays-Bas étaient particulièrement nombreuses dans les groupes prolétaires et protestants. Nous trouvons des preuves de la tolérance des parents à l’égard des pulsions sexuelles des jeunes couples (endogames) qui ne représentaient aucune menace pour la transmission des biens envisagée. Mais il existe également des preuves d’anticipation délibérée des mariages (la grossesse étant utilisée comme levier) pour gagner son indépendance. Les coutumes de séduction locales et régionales ne semblent, en revanche, pas fortement associées à des niveaux élevés ou faibles de grossesses nuptiales

Previous studies have consistently observed intergenerational continuities in childbearing. This study uses individual-level parish records to examine the intergenerational transmission of fertility over the life course of women in Sweden during the fertility transition in the second half of the nineteenth century. Bivariate correlations, event history analysis and Poisson regression models are estimated for a large number of indicators of reproductive behavior. In line with the literature, the findings show evidence of intergenerational fertility correlations. The observed correlations are often small, but show that fertility transmission did occur during the demographic transition. The findings confirm our current understanding of intergenerational transmission and highlight the role of kin members in shaping reproductive outcomes.