Crowding and human reproduction.

Studies of crowding in lower animals repeatedly demonstrate that compressed living conditions depress the ability of the species to reproduce. In a sample of 470 urban Toronto women we examined the effect of neighborhood and household crowding on the probability of a pregnancy and on the probability that any given product of the pregnancy will not survive until one year of age. Crowding did not influence fertility nor fetal and infant survival within the range of crowding found in this sample. If crowding has any influence on reproduction it would more profitably be investigated beyond the range of living density and housing markets found in North American urban areas.