Generating generations: Intergenerational transmission of fertility, southern Sweden 1813-1967

During the historical fertility transition, women’s fertility fell sharply within only a few generations. In this paper, we study similarities in fertility outcomes between mothers and daughters before, during and after the fertility transition in a socioeconomically diverse population in southern Sweden (1813-1967). We find evidence of an intergenerational transmission of completed fertility emerging towards the end and after the fertility transition, when families were smaller. The transmission was not uniform in the population. The largest and earliest transmission occurred among urban and first-born women. These women may have been most strongly affected in their family size ideals by their upbringing because of urban economic circumstances, and small family size ideals influencing the eldest daughters more strongly, respectively. We do not observe significant differences by socioeconomic status, suggesting that it is not one social group driving the overall correlation in family size between mothers and daughters. We interpret the findings as evidence of intergenerational transmission of fertility being an outcome, and not a driving factor, of the historical fertility transition in the study area.