DP252 Duration of Marriage, Fertility and Female Employment Opportunities in England and Wales in 1911

Author(s):	Nicholas Crafts
Publication Date:	June 1988
Keyword(s):	Birth Control, Family Planning, Fertility, Marriage
JEL(s):	044, 841, 921
Programme Areas:	Human Resources
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=252

Data from the 1911 Census of England and Wales are examined for evidence of family limitation early in marriage. It is shown that a substantial number of couples used birth control for 'spacing' as well as 'stopping' fertility. Moreover 'spacing' of births appears to have been more widespread in districts in which female employment opportunities were relatively good. In general the results obtained do not fit with the 'Princeton' view of the European fertility transition, with its stress on parity-specific family limitation spreading in response to improvements in contraceptive information and technology.