Childhood mortality in Central Spain, 1790–1960: changes in the course of demographic modernization

The struggle against death is one of the main themes in human history. Mortality as it declined in recent times, became a central factor behind population growth. In this context, childhood mortality was the key, not only because deaths at these young ages often constituted more than half of all deaths, but also because any decrease in it brought about fundamental changes in the age structure and the size of the population and in fertility.