Luciana Quaranta

Early life effects across the life course: The impact of individually defined exogenous measures of disease exposure on mortality by sex in 19th- and 20th-century Southern Sweden

Using micro-level longitudinal data from Southern Sweden for 1813 to 1968, this work evaluates the effect of exposure to disease in early life on mortality over the entire life course and separately by sex. The local rates of post-early neonatal mortality are considered indicators of early life disease exposure, and these rates are calculated specifically for each person based on birth date. The loss in median remaining life among exposed individuals who survived to age 1 is 1.1 years for females and 2.1 years for males. Exposed individuals show a cross-over from lower to higher relative mortality as they age. This change occurs in adulthood for males and in old age for females. During adulthood, exposed males present higher rates of death than exposed females. These results are new to the literature and shed light on the importance of adopting a full life course approach and capturing sex differences when evaluating the long-term impacts of early life exposures.

Migrants and the Diffusion of Low Marital Fertility in Belgium

Although the diffusion of fertility behavior between different social strata in historical communities has received considerable attention in recent studies, the relationship between the diffusion of fertility behavior and the diffusion of people (migration) during the nineteenth century remains largely underexplored. Evidence from population registers compiled in the Historical Database of the Liège Region, covering the period of 1812 to 1900, reveals that migrant couples in Sart, Belgium, from 1850 to 1874 and from 1875 to 1899 had a reduced risk of conception. The incorporation of geographical mobility, as well as the migrant status of both husbands and wives, into this fertility research sheds light not only on the spread of ideas and behaviors but also on the possible reasons why the ideas and behaviors of immigrants might have been similar to, or different from, those of a native-born population.

Inequality and demographic response to short-term economic stress in North Orkney, Scotland, 1855–1910: Sector differences

We examine economic inequality and social differences in infant and child mortality, and fertility responses to food price changes in North Orkney, 1855–1910, using linked vital records. This small population featured a diverse occupational structure, limited land resources, and geographic isolation from mainland Scotland. Segments of Orkney’s non-agricultural working population were living so close to the margin of subsistence in normal years that an increase in food prices in bad years cost the lives of their children. Delayed childbearing, in addition to increased labour intensity, occupational diversification, and poor relief, failed to mitigate the negative effects of unfavourable prices in this group. While previous studies for Western Europe show a strong social gradient in mortality responses to food prices, and for Eastern Asia a strong household gradient, this study shows a strong sectoral gradient, indicating low standards of living for the non-agricultural working population well into the twentieth century.

La circonferenza toracica come indicatore dello stato nutrizionale e di salute (Friuli 1867-1910)

Il saggio analizza l’evoluzione dello stato nutrizionale e, piu in generale, delle condizioni di salute della popolazione friulana, concentrando pero l’attenzione sulla circonferenza toracica, uno dei parametri antropometrici regolarmente rilevato nei registri di leva. In questo caso la popolazione in esame e costituita da un vastissimo campione di giovani (oltre 90.000) appartenenti alle classi di leva 1846-1890, in diversi mandamenti friulani. La circonferenza toracica ben si presta a descrivere lo standard di vita ed il livello di salute della popolazione in esame. Tale parametro sembra, inoltre, piu idoneo ad evidenziare eventuali variazioni congiunturali nelle disponibilita alimentari. I risultati dell’analisi effettuata, includendo la serie dei prezzi del mais come proxy delle disponibilita alimentari, mostra come queste ultime influissero significativamente sulla variazioni delle misure relative alla circonferenza toracica.