Urbanisation, economic development and family transformation through history

A negative association between the number of children in a family and the heights of the children has been shown many times for 20th century populations. The causes behind this association are not known but could include resource scarcity in large families or that families with different numbers of children are different also in other, observable or unobservable, ways. This study investigates the causes behind the negative association between family size and child heights by examining the association among men born 1797-1950. This is done using longitudinal, individual level data on socioeconomic background, household structure, family relations and heights of conscripts. The results show that the causes behind the negative association are manifold and complex, and their relative importance having changed over time. Children with many siblings were shorter than others, at least from mid-19th century onwards. Resource dilution within families is probably one of the explanations for this negative association. But the association seems to have been different in landed families as compared to others, and also different in families with unusually few or many children. The explanations needed to explain the negative association between sibship size and child outcomes differ depending on the societal and historical context.

This paper is an attempt to analyse the relationships between demographic and urban transitions using long-term historical data from Belgium (1841-1976), and compare these transitions with that of Sweden (1750-1955). The methodology differs from previous analyses in that it identifies the respective roles of fertility, mortality and migration in the transition. While nuancing the role of urban mortality in triggering early demographic transition, results reinstate migration as the major component of urban transition. Theoretical consequences on the role of economic changes in urban and demographic transitions are then drawn.

Indian urban family structure is in a transitional stage and it is gradually moving from joint to nuclear families. The rapid urbanization and increasing number of urbanites changes the traditional family structure and religious composition of urban centres through differential migration. Religion and Caste played a vital role for determining the family structure and social composition. Slums are mainly dense households, settling beside the roadways and along the railway tracks, haunted the industrial and commercial set up in urban environment. Cities’ social areas are determined by these two components. The social and family composition varies from cities to cities. The study shows the comparison between slum and non-slum households in eight cities. The presence of slum households is higher in metropolitan cities as compared to other cities and towns. Most of the slums and non-slums of metropolitan cities are of nuclear type. There is no impact of religion and caste on the family structures of slum and non-slum households. Also among slum households, the family structure is independent of caste and religious affiliation, but is strongly dependent on age and educational levels of the head households.