The decline of patrilineal kin propinquity in the United States, 1790–1940

Abstract

BACKGROUND Historical change in the availability of kin beyond the household has long interested scholars, but there has been little comparable evidence on long-run change. While generally accepted that individuals lived near kin historically, no systematic measures have been available to assess historical kin propinquity at the national level. METHODS With the release of historical complete count United States census data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), a robust estimate of patrilineal kin propinquity for the United States nationally from 1790 to 1940 is calculated. Defined as the probability of non-random isonymy within an enumeration district, the estimate of patrilineal kin propinquity relies on the sequential ordering of households in the census. RESULTS The United States experienced a long-run decline in patrilineal kin propinquity from nearly 50% of households in 1790 to 17% of households in 1940. The age patterns of kin propinquity show substantial variation across the life course, and regional differences demonstrate the impact of economic and demographic conditions. The decline in kin propinquity reflected urbanization and the decline of agriculture, declining kin availability, growing distance between potential kin links, and a change in preferences of living near kin. CONTRIBUTION This is the first study to produce a systematic estimate of patrilineal kin propinquity at the national level for the United States between 1790 and 1940. Researchers can use this meaningful measure of patrilineal kin propinquity to better explain its relationships with other demographic behaviors and outcomes such as fertility, mortality, and migration choices.

The Influence of Kin Proximity on the Reproductive Success of American Couples, 1900–1910

“…More than half of all cou ples in the data set (55.1%) lived in an enu mer a tion dis trict with no sur name kin. The aver age sur name den sity declined by 10.1%, to 3.02 adults per 1,000, between 1900 and 1910, in line with the national trend of declin ing kin pro pin quity observed by Nelson (2020). Our more con ser va tive The Influence of Kin Proximity on Reproductive Success mea sure of nearby pater nal kin-the pro por tion of cou ples in which the woman had a nearby poten tial motherinlaw-declined as well, from 8.4% in 1900 to just 4.0% in 1910, reflecting the com bined effect of mor tal ity and migra tion in the inter ven ing decade.…”

“…Compared with older women, youn ger women in the data set had higher per cent ages of cores i dent par ents, cores i dent par entsinlaw, and nearby moth ersinlaw. The age pat tern is con sis tent with the increas ing cumu la tive risk of mor tal ity among par ents and in-laws with age, and with the increas ing cumu la tive risk of migra tion from one's com mu nity of birth, where denser kin net works prevailed, to a new loca tion with less dense kin net works (Nelson 2020). Women in rural areas were more likely than oth ers to live within five house holds of a poten tial mother-in-law and lived in enu mer a tion dis tricts with the highest sur name kin den si ties, while women liv ing in large urban areas were less likely than oth ers to live near a mother-in-law and lived in enu mer a tion dis tricts with the low est kin den si ties.…”

“…Although there are a few excep tions (Dribe and Eriksson 2019;Hacker and Roberts 2017;Jennings et al 2012;Rotering and Bras 2015), research on kin and repro duc tion in Europe and North America has focused on the period prior to the demo graphic tran si tion (circa 1870-1930). This is unfor tu nate, because the longterm decline in kin prox im ity accom pa ny ing eco nomic mod ern i za tion likely played an impor tant role in the fer til ity tran si tion (Jaadla et al 2020;Nelson 2020;Newson et al 2005).…”

“…Perhaps not coin ci den tally, the decline in kin pro pin quity occurred at the same time that cou ples in New England assumed a lead ing role in the nation's fer til ity tran si tion. More recently, Nelson (2018Nelson ( , 2020 has documented a dra matic nation wide decline in sur name kin pro pin quity-mea sured as the per cent age of fam i lies liv ing within three house holds of a fam ily with the same sur name on the cen sus man u script returns-from 29% in 1790 to 7% in 1940, roughly cor re spond ing to the years of the U.S. fer til ity tran si tion (Figure 1).…”

Childcare in transition: evidence that patterns of childcare differ by degree of market integration in north-western Tanzania

“…Increasing levels of market integration across the world are altering who people regularly interact with (Fischer 1982;Newson et al 2005;Murphy 2008;Zelinsky 1971). It is commonly presumed that due to differences in physical proximity to kin, individuals living rurally rely more on kin for support (Nelson 2020), whereas individuals in urban communities are more likely to cooperate with non-kin (David-Barrett 2019;Murphy 2008Murphy , 2011Sear and Coall 2011;Turke 1989). Dissolution of kin networks with market integration and urbanisation could result from declining dependence on agriculture leading to families living further apart in their search for work (Nelson 2020).…”