Family Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Sweden: Impact Of Occupational Status and Landownership

This study investigates the impact of resources on family patterns. Resources vary within and between regions; individual access to resources may also vary. Data from the Swedish Demographic Database, Umeå, Sweden, allowed comparisons of reproductive life in four Swedish parishes during the 1800s. Data were analyzed at both aggregate and lineage levels. Occupational status and land ownership are shown to have affected men's reproductive lives, though particulars varied among parishes. Legitimacy and parity (birth order) affected access to resources. Two new measures are introduced to supplement standard demographic measures: actual lifetime fertilities (NBC: number of biological children born to the individual), and the number of children alive at age ten (RS 10 ).