Household-level predictors of the presence of servants in Northern Orkney, Scotland, 1851-1901

Hired helpers at the nest: The association between life-cycle servants and net fertility in North Orkney, 1851-1911

OBJECTIVES

The presence of kin is often, but not always, associated with higher fertility in historical populations. However, the effect of other household members on fertility is less frequently studied. While not genetically related, life-cycle servants lived and worked alongside household members and may have provided assistance to reproducing families. Female servants in particular may have helped mothers with small children through direct help with childcare activities or by replacing the economic effort of mothers whose work was not compatible with childcare. This study examines the presence of servants in the households of married women of reproductive age to assess whether households with young children are more likely to also have servants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study uses individual-level census data from North Orkney, Scotland (1851-1911) to investigate the relationship between the presence of servants in households and a measure of recent net marital fertility, the number of women's own-children under age 5, using logistic regression models.

RESULTS

Households with young children were more likely to have a female, but not male, servant in the household after controlling for the effects of other possible helpers, including older children, mothers, and mothers-in-law.

DISCUSSION

These findings are consistent with prior research that indicates the importance of female labor to smallholder agricultural households and suggests that female servants may have provided support to reproducing families. Life-cycle servants should be considered one component of biocultural reproduction in historical Northwest Europe. The use of hired help is not restricted to contemporary or elite groups.

The association between network centrality and standard of living in a historical agrarian population

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between network centrality and living standards as measured by fertility and mortality responses to short-term economic stress.

METHODS

Cox proportional hazard models estimate the effects of staple grain price variation and eigenvector and beta centrality within marriage and labor networks on the timing of births and child mortality (1-14 years) in a historical demographic data set from North Orkney, Scotland, 1851-1911.

RESULTS

Households that are peripheral to the marriage and labor network experience lower chances of a birth when food prices are high. The fertility of more central households is less sensitive to price changes. A similar, but weaker, pattern holds for child mortality, which is also sensitive to price fluctuations, although the social gradient is not as clear.

CONCLUSIONS

Marriage and labor network centrality is an indicator of standard of living in this remote, agricultural population. Households that are firmly embedded in the network are able to overcome and adjust to short-term economic stress without demographic consequences, while those at the edges of the community experience delayed reproduction in poor years consistent with unplanned responses to stress.

Infant mortality and intra-household competition in the Northern Islands of Orkney, Scotland, 1855-2001

This study applies principles from the theory of household life cycles to the study of early childhood mortality in the population of the Northern Orkney Islands, Scotland. The primary hypothesis is that unfavorable household economic conditions resulting from changes in household demographic composition increase the risk of death for children under the age of 5 years because of limited resources and intra-household competition. We apply Cox proportional hazards models to nearly 5,000 linked birth and death records from the Northern Orkney Islands, Scotland, from the period 1855 to 2001. The dependent variable is the child's risk of death before age 5. Findings suggest that children in households with unfavorable age compositions face higher risk of death. This elevated risk of death continues once heterogeneity among children, islands, and households is controlled. Results also show differential risk of death for male children, children of higher birth orders, and twin births. The analyses present evidence for intra-household competition in this historic setting. The most convincing evidence of competition is found in the effects of household consumer/producer ratios and twinning on child mortality risks.