“Fertility control before and during the demographic transition: An economic perspective” by Francesco Cinnirella

Description

The standard narrative in economic history is that conscious marital fertility control was non-existent before the fertility transition of the end of the 19th century. In this talk I will review recent findings of my own research and from other scholars which contrast with the notion of “natural fertility”. In particular, I will present findings about fertility control in England, France, and Germany consistent with the notion that households’ fertility choices responded to economic changes even before the fertility transition. Successively, I will introduce theoretical and empirical models which assess the role of education in the fertility transition. Based on the results of a new research project, I will show the extent to which exposure to kindergarten affected households’ fertility choice in US between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. These new findings stress the importance of dynamic complementarities between pre-school and formal schooling and provide additional evidence on the importance of investing in early childhood education.

Period	31. Oct 2018
Event type	Seminar
Location	Odense, Denmark
Degree of Recognition	National