A simulation of the impact of changes in age at marriage before and during the advent of industrialization in England

Abstract

Summary The quantitative significance of changes in age at marriage on family size is assessed by applying a simple simulation model of family reproduction, using data broadly related to England in the period 1700-1850. Within this context, the impacts of parity-specific infant mortality, and an association between age at marriage and potential fertility are considered. The evidence concerning variations in marriage and mortality distributions over the period in question is examined and linked to the simulation results to produce some tentative conclusions relating to the impact of changes in the distribution of age at marriage on the birth rate and rate of population growth and to an assessment of such changes as an homeostatic adjustment mech-anism. In particular, it is argued that age at marriage played no more than a secondary role in the English demographic revolution.