Fertility transition and social stratification in the town of Alghero, Sardinia (1866-1935)

Abstract

AbstractBACKGROUNDDespite the large amount of research on European fertility transition, the mechanisms of this demographic process are still poorly understood. This is particularly true in the Italian demographic experience, especially for some regions.OBJECTIVEWe wish improve the knowledge of the determinants of fertility transition in Sardinia, a region situated in the heart of the Mediterranean but paradoxically one which is the least 'Mediterranean' region of the country. The analysis of SES differentials and their evolution over the transition process is the core purpose of this paper.METHODSWe use a complex individual database deriving from the combination of civil and religious sources of Alghero, a large costal town in Sardinia. Our analysis is focussed on the reproductive history of Alghero marriage cohorts (1866-1905), followed through the mid-1930s. A micro-level statistical analysis is performed on legitimate births of parity 2+.RESULTSWe find that, in the period under examination, the process of fertility decline already underway in the northern and central regions, was almost absent in Alghero. However we did prove significant socio-economic differentials in marital fertility. The group shows the first clear signs of deliberate marital fertility control.CONCLUSIONSThe results testify a new and more conscious attitude towards birth control adopted by the elite minority, while no significant change is detectable for the rest of the population until the 1930s. This is the first research carried out at the individual level related an urban population in Southern Italy.51. The unusual path of Sardinian fertility transitionFindings from the Princeton Project (Coale and Watkins 1986) show that fertility decline in Italy, as in other European countries, followed its own specific path (Livi Bacci 1977). This project acknowledges the possibility of a multitude of transition paths, each determined by their specific historical and geographical context, and attempts overcome the problems encountered with macro-analytical approaches or short-term temporal scales. More recent studies (Breschi, Pozzi and Rettaroli 1994; Del Panta et al. 1996; 2002; Dalla Zuanna, Rosina and Rossi 2004; Breschi, Fornasin and Gonano 2008; Santini 2008) confirm that the path and pace of transition in Italy differed quite dramatically from one region another, and at times from one area another within the same region.At the aggregate level, the process of fertility transition in Sardinia stands out from national trends. This island region experienced the slowest and most gradual fertility transition in the whole of Italy (Livi Bacci 1977). Despite its initially low levels compared other Southern regions, fertility levels in Sardinia went on become the highest in Italy during the 1950s. While the national average was around 2.3 and that of the south was 3.2, the TFR of Sardinia was approaching 4 children per woman (Sorvillo and Terra Abrami 1993; Istat 1997). In stark contrast, Sardinia presently has the lowest fertility levels of all the Italian regions (Santini 2008).Even in the pre-transitional period, Sardinia proves be a demographical oddity. Although it is situated in the heart of the Mediterranean, it is paradoxically the least Mediterranean' of all Italian regions. Its system of family formation and reproductive behaviour does not fit any of the theories put forward in the literature. The Mediterranean model par excellence - joint patrilocal household, according which a newly married couple resides with the husband's parents, with low female marriage age and high fertility - was far removed from the practices prevailing in Sardinia (Da Re 1990; Oppo 1990a; Meloni 1997; Perra and Cois 2012), which closely followed the north-western European' model, with simple neolocal households and late marriage for both sexes (Viazzo 2003), a living arrangement pattern that obliged spouses to arrive at the wedding with the means necessary for creating a self-sufficient household'' (Oppo 1990b: 486). …