Paul Puschmann

How unique is the Western European marriage pattern? A comparison of nuptiality in historical Europe and the contemporary Arab world

In this article a comparison is drawn between the historical Western European marriage pattern (WEMP), and more recent trends in nuptiality in Arab countries. This comparison makes clear that marriage behavior in the present-day Arab world shows striking similarities to nuptiality patterns which have been described by Hajnal and adherents as typically Western European. Due to a combination of economic hardship, ever growing costs in the marriage ceremony, prolonged education and the emancipation of women, people in the Arab world have started to marry at ever higher ages during the past decades. Moreover, there are indications that universal marriage is in decline. Just as Western European couples in the nineteenth century had to spend years of saving in order to meet the economic requirements for marriage, young couples in todays Arab world have to postpone marriage as they are only at a more advanced age able to bear the economic burden involved in getting married. Striking is also the fact that marriage restriction in both societies started at a moment when the social and legal position of women was improving (in late Medieval Western Europe and today in the Arab world). However, in some ways the historical Western European marriage pattern differs from the contemporary Arab pattern. No other marriage regime has been able to completely reduce fertility and balance population growth to economic development. Whereas population growth in pre-twentieth century Europe was only restricted by nuptiality control, demographic expansion in present day Arab society is also restricted by modern family planning. Declining nuptiality in the Arab world can however not, as some might assume, be put under the header of the Second Demographic Transition observed in Western societies, from the 1960s on. After all, until today, a rise in cohabitation and extra-marital births has not occured in the Arab world.

Household and family during urbanization and industrialization: efforts to shed new light on an old debate

Household and family during urbanization and industrialization: efforts to shed new light on an old debate Paul Puschmann & Arne Solli a Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium b KU Leuven, Family and Population Studies (FaPOS), Centre for Sociological Research, Leuven, Belgium c Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway Published online: 05 Feb 2014.

Salmon Bias or Red Herring

The purpose of this research is to empirically test the salmon bias hypothesis, which states that the “healthy migrant” effect—referring to a situation in which migrants enjoy lower mortality risks than natives—is caused by selective return-migration of the weak, sick, and elderly. Using a unique longitudinal micro-level database—the Historical Sample of the Netherlands—we tracked the life courses of internal migrants after they had left the city of Rotterdam, which allowed us to compare mortality risks of stayers, returnees, and movers using survival analysis for the study group as a whole, and also for men and women separately. Although migrants who stayed in the receiving society had significantly higher mortality risks than natives, no significant difference was found for migrants who returned to their municipality of birth (returnees). By contrast, migrants who left for another destination (movers) had much lower mortality risks than natives. Natives who left Rotterdam also had significantly lower mortality risks than natives who stayed in Rotterdam. Female migrants, in particular, who stayed in the receiving urban society paid a long-term health price. In the case of Rotterdam, the salmon bias hypothesis can be rejected because the lower mortality effect among migrants was not caused by selective return-migration. The healthy migrant effect is real and due to a positive selection effect: Healthier people are more likely to migrate.

Access to marriage and reproduction among migrants in Antwerp and Stockholm. A longitudinal approach to processes of social inclusion and exclusion, 1846–1926

A longitudinal approach is used to describe and explain processes of social inclusion and exclusion among different groups of migrants in Antwerp and Stockholm (1846–1926), in terms of access to marriage and reproduction. In this way we want to get a better idea about the factors which facilitated or hampered the social inclusion of migrants upon arrival in two different Western European port cities. The results of the discrete time event history analyses show that social inclusion of migrants was easier in Antwerp and became easier over time, while in Stockholm it was more difficult and became even more complicated over time. This finding might be interpreted as the result of greater societal openness in Antwerp, as the Belgian port-citys economic success depended largely upon foreigners and international trade. Higher odds for social inclusion in Antwerp might also have been related to differences in the chances of finding an urban niche, which in turn might have been a result of disparities in economic and demographic growth. Most likely it was a combination of differences in the local opportunity structure and the level of societal openness. Furthermore, it was found that region and place of birth, age at arrival, historical time period, and, in the case of Stockholm, gender and social class had an important impact on the chances of successful inclusion.

Paths of Acculturation and Social Inclusion. Migration, Marriage Opportunities and Assortative Mating by Geographic Origin in Antwerp, 1846-1920

Partner choice and marriage are used as indicators of paths of acculturation and social inclusion among migrants who moved as singles to Antwerp. Whereas scholars previously studied either the timing and intensity of marriage among migrants or the degree to which migrants married natives, we utilise a model which combines both approaches, linking four different meeting and mating outcomes to four acculturation trajectories. The event history analyses show that, in line with studies from the Chicago School of sociology, migrants were marginalised at a large scale. However, this was not a result of economic hardship, limited skills or the rural background of the migrant, but related to ethnic and cultural differences. Stayers and leavers had equal risks of facing marginalisation. Being born in the direct hinterland and moving early to the city increased the likelihood of experiencing assimilation.