Fertility in South Dublin a Century Ago: A First Look

44 Pages Posted: 29 Nov 2001

See all articles by Timothy W. Guinnane

Timothy W. Guinnane

Yale University - Department of Economics; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Carolyn M. Moehling

Rutgers University, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Cormac O'Grada

University College Dublin (UCD)

Date Written: November 2001

Abstract

Ireland's relatively late and feeble fertility transition remains poorly understood. The leading explanations stress the role of Catholicism and a conservative social ethos. This paper reports the first results from a project that uses new samples from the 1911 census of Ireland to study fertility in Dublin and Belfast. Our larger project aims to use the extensive literature on the fertility transition elsewhere in Europe to refine and test leading hypotheses in their Irish context. The present paper uses a sample from the Dublin suburb of Pembroke to take a first look at the questions, data, and methods. This sample is much larger than those used in previous studies of Irish fertility, and is the first from an urban area. We find considerable support for the role of religion, networks, and other factors stressed in the literature on the fertility transition, but the data also show a role for the social-class effects downplayed in recent discussions.

Keywords: Ireland, Fertility, Demography

JEL Classification: J1, N3

Suggested Citation

Guinnane, Timothy W. and Moehling, Carolyn Marie and O'Grada, Cormac, Fertility in South Dublin a Century Ago: A First Look (November 2001). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=291204

Timothy W. Guinnane (Contact Author)

Yale University - Department of Economics ( email )

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New Haven, CT 06520-8268
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(203) 432-3616 (Phone)
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HOME PAGE: http://sites.google.com/site/timothywguinnanec/

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

Carolyn Marie Moehling

Rutgers University, Department of Economics ( email )

75 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Cormac O'Grada

University College Dublin (UCD) ( email )

Belfield
Dublin 4, 4
Ireland

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