Socio-economic determinants of marital fertility in two eighteenth-century Dutch villages.

Socioeconomic determinants of marital fertility in eighteenth-century Netherlands are examined through analysis of birth intervals. "The findings...suggest that economic factors may affect marital fertility in pre-transition societies. In the example presented here, economic factors seem to affect marital fertility in the lower class mostly unconsciously, through changes in breastfeeding practices. Economic factors seem to affect the marital fertility of upper-class women in the early stages of the reproductive cycle through the conscious practice of contraception." (SUMMARY IN FRE) excerpt