Age of mother at last birth in two historical populations
Desjardins, B.; Bideau, A.; Brunet, G.
Journal of Biosocial Science 26(4): 509-516
1994
ISSN/ISBN: 0021-9320 PMID: 7983101 DOI: 10.1017/s0021932000021635Document Number: 288028
The study of the cessation of childbearing in natural fertility populations has yielded mixed results. This study examined the physiological and social factors affecting the maternal age at last birth before and during fertility transition. Data were obtained from linked registries of baptisms, marriages, and burials compiled at the University of Montreal. The data set of 2226 women born between 1624 and 1715 included the entire French Canadian population living in the Province of Quebec between 1608 and 1765 for births and 1799 for deaths. This time period corresponded to a natural fertility regimen, and toward the end of the period the youngest had begun spacing of the last birth interval. Another data set of 994 women born before 1900 pertained to four French villages of Haut-Jura from 1680 through the French fertility transition. The sample included only women with an exact birth date, a first marriage, and the last child born being born around the age of 30 years. The Canadian women had a mean and median age of marriage of 21 years and a mode of 19 years. Early marriage was prevalent, and 50% of births occurred after 1694. About 50% of women had 8-12 children, with the average being 11 children; the highest number was 20 or more. The French women spanned 2.5 centuries and the mean was the year 1800. The average marriage age was 23.7 years and the average number of children was 6; 14 children was the highest number. The results showed that the French Canadian women bore their last child at an average age of 41.5 years compared to 39.5 years for the French women. The age at last birth declined over time in the French sample to below 38 years after 1840. The French Canadian sample showed 50% of women ending childbearing around the age of 40 years and 70% of women doing so in the 37-44 age span. Marriage age was unrelated to last birth in the Quebec sample, and length of first birth interval was unrelated in either sample. The French sample showed that age at last birth increased with age at marriage, thereby suggesting stopping behavior. Mothers with 4 children at the age of 35 years had their last child a year later than those with 3 children. Age at last birth was not related to daughter's age at last birth. Stopping behavior was more related to age than norms about appropriate numbers of children.