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Sibship size and status attainment across contexts: Evidence from the Netherlands, 1840-1925

Author

Listed:
  • Hilde Bras

    (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

  • Jan Kok

    (Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen)

  • Kees Mandemakers

    (International Institute for Social History (IISH))

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of sibship size on status attainment across different contexts and subgroups. Resource dilution theory predicts that with larger sibship size, children’s status outcomes fall. However, the empirical record has shown that this is not always the case. In this paper we have tested three alternative hypotheses for neutral or even positive effects of sibship size on status attainment on the basis of a large-scale registry database covering the period of industrialization and fertility decline in the Netherlands in the nineteenth and early twentieth-century. Our findings offer support for the family developmental cycle, buffering by kin groups, and socio-economic development as alternative explanations to the resource dilution hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Hilde Bras & Jan Kok & Kees Mandemakers, 2010. "Sibship size and status attainment across contexts: Evidence from the Netherlands, 1840-1925," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 23(4), pages 73-104.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:23:y:2010:i:4
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2010.23.4
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue & Lindy Williams, 2006. "Family size and schooling in sub-Saharan African settings: A reexamination," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(1), pages 25-52, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Dribe & Francesco Scalone, 2014. "Social class and net fertility before, during, and after the demographic transition: A micro-level analysis of Sweden 1880-1970," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(15), pages 429-464.
    2. Christina J. Diaz & Jeremy E. Fiel, 2021. "When Size Matters: IV Estimates of Sibship Size on Educational Attainment in the U.S," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(6), pages 1195-1220, December.
    3. Martin Dribe & Jan Van Bavel & Cameron Campbell, 2012. "Social mobility and demographic behaviour: Long term perspectives," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(8), pages 173-190.
    4. Antonie Knigge, 2016. "Beyond the Parental Generation: The Influence of Grandfathers and Great-grandfathers on Status Attainment," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(4), pages 1219-1244, August.
    5. Martin Dribe & Jonas Helgertz & Bart van de Putte, 2012. "Intergenerational social mobility during modernisation: a micro-level study of a community in southern Sweden 1830-1968," Working Papers 12013, Economic History Society.
    6. David Mmopelwa, 2019. "Household size, birth order and child health in Botswana," Discussion Papers 2019-10, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    7. Shuang Chen, 2020. "Parental Investment After the Birth of a Sibling: The Effect of Family Size in Low-Fertility China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2085-2111, December.
    8. Stefan Öberg, 2015. "Sibship size and height before, during, and after the fertility decline," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(2), pages 29-74.
    9. Pujadas-Mora, Joana-Maria & Brea-Martinez, Gabriel, 2020. "The increasing influence of siblings in social mobility. A long-term historical view (Barcelona area, 16th-19th centuries)," SocArXiv sf6vj, Center for Open Science.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Netherlands; family size; 19th century; sibship size; status attainment; child well-being; resource dilution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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