Volume 30 - Article 28 | Pages 823–852  

Fertility transition and social stratification in the town of Alghero, Sardinia (1866-1935)

By Marco Breschi, Massimo Esposito, Stanislao Mazzoni, Lucia Pozzi

This article is part of the Special Collection 14 "Socioeconomic status and fertility before, during and after the demographic transition"

Abstract

Background: Despite the large amount of research on European fertility transition, the mechanisms of this demographic process are still poorly understood. This is particularly true in the Italian demographic experience, especially for some regions.

Objective: We wish to improve the knowledge of the determinants of fertility transition in Sardinia, a region situated in the heart of the Mediterranean but paradoxically one which is the least „Mediterranean‟ region of the country. The analysis of SES differentials and their evolution over the transition process is the core purpose of this paper

Methods: We use a complex individual database deriving from the combination of civil and religious sources of Alghero, a large costal town in north-western Sardinia. Our analysis is focussed on the reproductive history of Alghero marriage cohorts (1866-1905), followed through the mid-1930s. A micro-level statistical analysis is performed on legitimate births of parity 2+.

Results: We find that, in the period under examination, the process of fertility decline already underway in the northern and central regions, was almost absent in Alghero. However we did prove significant socio-economic differentials in marital fertility. The "elite" group shows the first clear signs of deliberate marital fertility control.

Conclusions: The results testify to a new and more conscious attitude towards birth control adopted by the elite minority, while no significant change is detectable for the rest of the population until the 1930s. This is the first research carried out at the individual level related to an urban population in Southern Italy.

Author's Affiliation

• Marco Breschi - Università degli Studi di Sassari (UniSS), Italy EMAIL
• Massimo Esposito - Università degli Studi di Sassari (UniSS), Italy EMAIL
• Stanislao Mazzoni - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain EMAIL
• Lucia Pozzi - Università degli Studi di Sassari (UniSS), Italy EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Health and socio-demographic conditions as determinants of marriage and social mobility: Male partner choice in Sardinia, late 19th-early 20th century
Volume 22 - Article 33

Religious affiliation and child mortality in Ireland: A country-wide analysis based on the 1911 Census
Volume 50 - Article 14

Deaths and survivors in war: The Italian soldiers in WWI
Volume 40 - Article 22

"Let’s talk about love": An analysis of the religious and economic factors determining the choice of marital property regime in Italy
Volume 36 - Article 29

For the times they are a changin': The respect for religious precepts through the analysis of the seasonality of marriages. Italy, 1862-2012.
Volume 33 - Article 7

Demographic characteristics of Sardinian centenarian genealogies: Preliminary results of the AKeA2 study
Volume 32 - Article 37

Maternal longevity is associated with lower infant mortality
Volume 31 - Article 42

Socioeconomic status and fertility before, during, and after the demographic transition: An introduction
Volume 31 - Article 7

Patterns of reproductive behavior in transitional Italy: The rediscovery of the Italian fertility survey of 1961
Volume 29 - Article 44

Demographic responses to short-term stress in a 19th century Tuscan population: The case of household out-migration
Volume 25 - Article 15

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