Malthus Was Right after All: Poor Relief and Birth Rates in Southeastern England | Zendy

George R. Boyer | Zendy

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Malthus Was Right after All: Poor Relief and Birth Rates in Southeastern England

Author(s) -

George R. Boyer

Publication year - 1989

Publication title -

journal of political economy

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 21.034

H-Index - 186

eISSN - 1537-534X

pISSN - 0022-3808

DOI - 10.1086/261594

Subject(s) - birth rate , fertility , economics , demographic economics , demography , payment , total fertility rate , new england , sociology , population , research methodology , family planning , finance , market economy , middle class

The payment of child allowances to laborers with large families was widespread in early nineteenth-century England. This paper tests Thomas Malthus's hypothesis that child allowances caused the birth rate to increase. A cross-sectional regression model is estimated to explain variations in birth rates across parishes in 1826-30. Birth rates are found to be related to child allowances, income, and the availability of housing, as Malthus contended. The paper concludes by examining the role played by the adoption of child allowances after 1795 in the fertility increase of the early nineteenth century.

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