Beyond the local marriage market

This study examines whether the increase of geographical heterogamy in the nineteenth and early twentieth century is related to modernization. Specifically, we test whether mass communication and mass transport enhanced the likelihood of a geographically heterogamous marriage as well as the distance over which heterogamous marriages took place. Furthermore, we study whether modernization decreased the relationship between social background and geographical heterogamy. We employ individual and municipality level data of some 30,000 marriages in over 40 municipalities in the Dutch province Overijssel between 1823 and 1922. The results from our multi-level analyses suggest that mass communication was more important than mass transport.geographical homogamy, mass communication, mass transport, migration, modernization, status homogamy

Studying historical occupational careers with multilevel growth models

In this article we propose to study occupational careers with historical data by using multilevel growth models. Historical career data are often characterized by a lack of information on the timing of occupational changes and by different numbers of observations of occupations per individual. Growth models can handle these specificities, whereas standard methods, such as event history analyses can’t. We illustrate the use of growth models by studying career success of men and women, using data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands. The results show that the method is applicable to male careers, but causes trouble when analyzing female careers.careers, growth models, historical data

Demography and Aging: Long Term Effects of Divorce, Early Widowhood, And Migration on Resources and Integration in Old Age

Do characteristics of the marital and migration history of the elderly population of West-Berlin matter for their present resources and societal integration? To answer this question we analyse data from the Berlin Aging Study. We show that for resources in old age, it is important when and under what circumstances women lost their partner. Divorced women and WWll widows are financially worse off than never married women, still married women, and more recent widows, and they also evaluate their health more negatively than others. The migration history seems equally important. Financial resources, social resources, and societal integration in old age depend on characteristics like region of birth and having experienced flight or expulsion. But contrary to the effects of divorce and early widowhood for women, here we could not generally speak of one group of looser

Industrialization and Intergenerational Mobility in Sweden

The relationship between industrialization and intergenerational mobility has been a topic of discussion for over forty years. In this article both total mobility and relative mobility chances are studied in the decades preceding industrialization and the decades during industrialization. A high-quality data set is used covering the male population of a region in the north of Sweden during the 19th century. Total intergenerational mobility increased during industrialization until, at the end of the century, both industrialization and the growth of mobility stagnated. Sectorial barriers resulted in unequal relative mobility chances before and also during industrialization. However, sons from self-employed classes were less likely to inherit the class position of their father after the onset of industrialization. At the same time, mobility between classes differing in status became less frequent. These results show a decline in the importance of the direct transfer of resources between generations and may indicate the increasing importance of education

Chancengleichheit durch die Bildungsexpansion

Die Frage nach der Angleichung der Bildungschancen konnte bisher nicht befriedigend beantwortet werden. Einerseits kann man aufgrund des Schulausbaus und der größeren Durchlässigkeit des Schulsystems einen Abbau von Bildungsbarrieren erwarten. Andererseits spricht der Beitrag des Bildungssystems zu der Reproduktion der Klassenstruktur für eine Fortdauer sozialer Ungleichheiten im Bildungssystem. Der Beitrag basiert auf einer empirischen Untersuchung zu den Veränderungen der Chancengleichheit im Bildungssystem der (alten) Bundesrepublik. Es werden hierzu Daten der Lebensverlaufsstudie am Max-Planck-Institut für Bildungsforschung in Berlin für die Geburtskohorten 1919-21, 1929-31, 1939-41, 1949-51, 1954-56 und 1959-61 ausgewertet. Die Analyse lässt erhebliche Unterschiede in den Bildungsentscheidungen zwischen Stadt und Land sowie dem Norden, dem Süden und der Mitte der Bundesrepublik erkennen. Die Berücksichtigung dieses Aspekts verändert jedoch nicht die geschätzten Effekte. Die Schätzungen bestätigen, dass die Bildungsentscheidungen vom Straus des Vaters, der Bildung der Eltern, der Zahl der Geschwister und der beruflichen Bildung der Eltern beeinflusst sind. (ICB2

Social Mobility through Migration to the Colonies: The Case of Algeria

Most migrants move to further their economic and social position. How successful were they, and which migrants succeeded best? Would they have fared better if they had stayed at home? These questions are often raised regarding recent migrants to the United States and Europe, who often entered the labor market in relatively low positions. During their lifetime, many migrants improve their social position, as do subsequent generations. The migrants to Algeria during French colonial rule, however, entered the labor market at the higher echelons of society. Did they fare better than their parents? If so, did their descendants keep their relatively privileged colonial position? The effects of gaining or losing social, cultural, economic, and human capital appear to be different for various groups of migrants who moved to colonies, tweaking existing theories in economic history, settler history, and the sociology of migration

Intergenerational Transfer of Occupational Status in Portugal, 1850-1960: Unravelling Modernization Processes

This paper sets out to investigate the consequences of modernization processes as they took place in Portugal between 1850 and 1960 on the transfer of occupational status from father to son. Information from marriage registers in six municipalities in Portugal will be used