Working Paper: NBER ID: w25752
Authors: Brian Beach; W Walker Hanlon
Abstract: The historical fertility transition is one of the most important events in economic history. This study provides new evidence on the role that ideas about family planning played in this transition. We begin by documenting a link between the famous Bradlaugh-Besant trial that took place in England in 1877, which revolved around the morality of family planning, and the sharp decline in fertility that took place in Britain beginning in that year. We then show that similar declines are observed among populations living outside of Britain but with strong cultural and linguistic links to Britain. Our findings highlight the importance of changing social norms in the historical fertility transition and provide novel evidence showing that cultural and linguistic ties can play an important role in rapidly transmitting social change around the world.
Keywords: Censorship; Family Planning; Fertility Transition; Social Norms
JEL Codes: J1; N31; N33
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Bradlaugh-Besant trial (Y50) | fertility rates (J13) |
| newspaper coverage (Y30) | fertility rates (J13) |
| Bradlaugh-Besant trial (Y50) | social norms regarding family planning (J13) |
| social norms regarding family planning (J13) | fertility rates (J13) |
| fertility behavior adjustments (J13) | fertility rates (J13) |
| cultural ties (Z10) | fertility rates (J13) |