David Reher

• Doctor of History
• Professor Emeritus at Complutense University of Madrid

This paper contains the reflections of the author on the state of family history within the constellation of History and the Social Sciences. The first part of the paper presents a brief outline of how the discipline was founded and the elements in play that contributed to its enormous initial success, especially visible during the last three decad...

El sistema de clasificación de Laslett-Hammel sobre la historia de la estructura familiar y del hogar se ha convertido en un método básico de análisis para la mayoría de los historiadores de la familia, a pesar de sus carencias a la hora de enfrentarse con los aspectos más dinámicos de las relaciones familiares. Esas deficiencias son estudiadas en...

El presente artículo pretende arrojar un poco de luz acerca de algunos de los aspectos más importantes de las economías familiares dentro de un contexto histórico. Se ha propuesto una perspectiva analítica que enfatiza los aspectos dinámicos y flexibles de las economías, tanto en el mundo industrial y urbano, como en el rural. Al igual que para Cha...

Esquema interpretativo para explicar los pesos relativos de los factores económicos, sociales, culturales y demográficos en las diferencias de la fertilidad dentro del matrimonio entre áreas rurales y áreas urbanas. Se utilizan los datos estadísticos sobre fertilidad marital en España entre los años 1887 y 1920 para los análisis de trayectoria de l...

Most people coreside with other kin in private households while others live alone. The incidence of coresidence with kin and solo living varies noticeably across societies. Scholars have long theorized about the role of modernization and cultural change for living arrangements, suggesting a trend toward the nuclearization of households (coresidence...

Households are core units of social organization and reproduction, yet, compared to other areas of demographic research, we have limited understanding of their basic characteristics across countries. Using data from 793 time points and 156 countries in the new CORESIDENCE database, this article provides a comprehensive analysis of global household...

It is known that historically fertility is correlated between generations of the same family. These links tend to be explained either in terms of the biogenetic determinants of reproduction or by the transmission of intra-familial values associated with reproduction and family life. Less is known about the micro-determinants of these links or about...

New data based on retrospective interviews with older informants enable us to review the history of contraceptive use among Spanish women over much of the twentieth century. This source is unique because it includes cohorts of women whose reproductive lives took place before, during, and after the baby boom. Traditional contraceptive methods (withd...

Historical literacy in Spain is characterised by enormous regional disparities and important differences by sex. This paper addresses these issues, focusing initially on the 1887 census returns and also making use of local empirical data and of in-depth interviews of elderly informants. The goal is to propose an interpretation of historical pattern...

Background: This paper presents a new source of microdata on women’s reproductive life in 20th century Spain, the Baby Boom and Bust Survey (BBBS). While certain countries have other sources of microdata such as censuses or specific fertility surveys that have been useful in shedding light on aspects of reproduction, few provide the longitudinal, i...

Using census and survey microdata from 69 countries worldwide, in this paper we document levels of intergenerational coresidence over the life course and examine changes in recent decades. We present evidence of a generalized pattern of increase in intergenerational coresidence during the initial decade of this century. This is most evident among p...

The main goal of this paper is to address how different partnership statuses impact the likelihood of death among mature adults and elderly persons in Spain circa 2012 using a massive new dataset of administrative registers linked to census data. First, gross and net effects of having a partner on mortality risks of partnered and non-partnered pers...

In the developed world, the historic process of fertility decline was interrupted by an unexpected period of increasing fertility called the baby boom. Recent studies suggest that a similar trend change in fertility may have occurred in many less developed nations at approximately the same time. Using cohort fertility data for 26 less developed cou...

Since death rates from the COVID-19 are highest among the oldest, the impact of the current pandemic in a given society depends to a large extent on the share of elderly persons and their living arrangements. Whereas the former is well known, the latter is not. Arguably, contagion itself and the severity of its symptoms are likely to vary among eld...

The increasing proportion of persons living alone has come to be emblematic in many ways of modern Western societies because it represents the importance conceded to the individual and to individual goals at the expense, basically, of the family. Solo living has been interpreted within the context of changing values and preferences, changing person...

Objectives To address how different residential situations impact the likelihood of death among mature adults and elderly persons. Design Population-based study with administrative data linked to census data. Setting Spain. Participants Spanish population alive on 1 January 2012, observed between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012. A 10% random...

Recent research has looked at living alone among the elderly both within the context of the developed world and globally from a comparative perspective. To date this research has contributed relatively little to our understanding of patterns of change over time, an issue of major importance for the prediction of future trends. We propose now to loo...

This paper compares the determinants of living alone among elderly women in six countries (Tanzania, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Brazil, Spain, and Sweden) with very different family systems, policy contexts, levels of development, and socio‐economic characteristics. Different factors behind the residential choices of elderly women are estimated by mean...

Disparities in reproductive behavior visible in the developed world are a long‐term implication of the demographic transition. While present at the very outset of the transition, their effects are most visible once childhood mortality loses its relevance as a key constraint on reproduction. These disparities are rooted in the type of society that e...

This article compares the determinants of living alone in later life in Spain and Sweden, two countries with relatively similar levels of economic development from a global view point but different family systems and institutional contexts. With microdata coming from census (Spain) and linked administrative registers (Sweden), logistic regression t...

Studies of childlessness in the twentieth century in developed countries have underscored the existence of diverging trends with higher levels among cohorts born at the beginning of the twentieth century, lower ones among the baby boom cohorts and finally higher ones for cohorts born after the Second World War. Spain also shows these basic trends,...

In Europe and the United States, women’s educational attainment started to increase around the middle of the twentieth century. The expected implication was fertility decline and postponement, whereas in fact the opposite occurred. We analyse trends in the quantum of cohort fertility among the baby boom generations in 15 countries and how these rel...

Substantial research to date has shown how the observed variation in living arrangements in European countries can be interpreted in terms of the intensity of the underlying levels of familism. In Europe, some regions tend to be characterized by staunchly individualist, weak family societies; while in others strong family ties are predominant. Not...

Our goal in this paper is to analyse the extent to which completed fertility, and in particular childlessness, is a valid predictor of living alone at advanced ages, an increasingly important residential option in advanced societies with crucial implications for social policy design and the organization of welfare services. Based on micro-data from...

We use a set of linked reproductive histories taken from Sweden, the Netherlands, and Spain for the period 1871–1960 to address key issues regarding how reproductive change was linked specifically to mortality and survivorship and more generally to individual agency. Using event-history analysis, this study investigates how the propensity to have a...

The historic process of fertility decline was interrupted during the central decades of the 20th century with an unexpected period of increasing fertility that has been called the baby boom. Normally it is considered a phenomenon exclusive to countries participating in the historic demographic transition. A recent study suggests that a similar tren...

The key challenge facing contemporary society is a process of population ageing rooted mainly in past fertility cycles. The goals of the study reported in this paper were (i) to analyse jointly the post-1930s baby boom and the baby bust that followed, (ii) to consider the specific ways this particular combination influenced the process of ageing in...

A set of linked reproductive histories taken from the Spanish town of Aranjuez during the demographic transition is used to address key issues regarding reproductive change and reproductive choice. This paper builds on the existing literature and especially on the findings first shown in Reher & Sanz-Gimeno (2007) and in Van Poppel et al. (2012) wh...

During the central decades of the twentieth century there is ample though often indirect evidence that a significant rise in fertility took place in much of the world. In some countries with historic demographic transitions this trend change has been called the baby boom. Elsewhere it has often been called the demographic explosion. Seldom has it b...

Research on the mobility and residential patterns of immigrants within receiving countries is abundant. The selective nature of movers and the location of immigrants are issues that have received special attention. Most studies are premised on the supposition that immigrants move only once. However, for a number of immigrants, internal migration is...

In this study, age at menopause was examined in relation to demographic and life style factors among Latin-American immigrants to Madrid and their Spanish counterparts. Respondents were drawn from the Decisions at Menopause Study (2002-2003) and from a recent sample of Latin-American immigrants to Madrid (2010-2011). The final sample included 484 w...

This study analyzes the timing, magnitude, and volume of the mid-twentieth century baby boom in European and non-European Western countries. The baby boom is found to have been especially strong in the non-European countries, fairly strong in some European countries, and quite weak in others. While the boom has often been linked with postwar econom...

Objective: This study applies a biocultural perspective to better understand the determinants of hot flashes and night sweats within immigrant and local populations in Madrid, Spain. Methods: A combined sample of 575 women from Madrid, aged 45 to 55 years, was drawn from two studies. The Spanish sample (n = 274) participated in The Decisions At...

International migratory movements tend to produce the reality of divided families that are located in at least two different places. The literature on divided or transnational families and family reunification movements has shown how the socio-demographic determinants in origin and the socio-economic and institutional factors in destination drive t...

This chapter deals with the way demographic transitions throughout the world have proved to be an important source of social, economic and familial change. The chapter has different parts. After an initial overview of the role played by the family in social organization and continuity in the past, as well as of the basic dynamics of the demographic...

BACKGROUND According to classic demographic transition theory, mortality change is the key factor that triggers a decline in fertility. Research on this topic has mostly relied on aggregate or time series data. Since fertility is based on the joint decisions of couples when confronted with specific fertility-childhood mortality outcomes, a focus on...

According to the classic demographic transition theory, mortality change was the key factor triggering the decline of fertility. In a recent paper Reher and Sanz-Gimeno studied the mechanisms which played a role in this process with individual longitudinal data for the Spanish town of Aranjuez. This study uses comparable data from the Netherlands f...

The changes in population structure currently taking place in both developed and less‐developed nations are part of a very long‐term trend of demographic change that has yet to run its full course. The starting point of this trend is the complete rearrangement of demographic regimes characterised by significant declines in mortality coupled with wi...

This paper studies patterns of endogamous marriages of immigrants in Spain by using data from the National Immigrant Survey of Spain (2007). First of all, we examine patterns of endogamous marriage and links between migration and marriage. Second, we assess the factors influencing the likelihood of being in an endogamous marriage. Our analyses focu...

This article extends the existing literature on the internal migration patterns of the foreign-born in Spain. We analyze the spatial distribution of immigrants and their patterns of mobility at different levels. Socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants and characteristics of places of origin and destination are considered. We also examine re...

This paper reviews the Spanish migratory experience throughout the last hundred and fifty years in order to contextualize from a historical point of view the recent immigration boom that has taken place at the turn of the new century and the change of migratory cycle that the county has undergone under the impact of the current economic crisis. The...

This symposium takes as its point of departure two books by Massimo Livi Bacci, Conquest and El Dorado in the Marshes, published in English in 2008 and 2010. Livi Bacci assesses widely varying estimates of the demographic dimensions of the collapse of the native populations following their contact with Europeans and elucidates the proximate causes...

Estimating the Number of Immigrants in Spain: An Indirect Method Based on Births and Fertility Rates This article proposes an indirect method to validate existing estimates of immigrants’ stock from the Spanish municipal population register, which some believe might be over-counting immigrants who double register in different municipalities or fail...

This article proposes an indirect method to validate existing estimates of immigrants'stock from the Spanish municipal population register, which some believe might be over-counting immigrants who double register in different municipalities or fail to deregister when leaving the country. The proposed method uses two pieces of information: births to...

This paper reviews the Spanish migratory experience throughout the last hundred and fifty years in order to contextualize from a historical point of view the recent immigration boom that has taken place at the turn of the new century and the change of migratory cycle that the county has undergone under the impact of the current economic crisis. The...

This paper extends the literature on the internal migration patterns of the foreign-born by analyzing the situation in Spain, a country affected by recent but very significant migratory flows. We utilize a standard theoretical framework in order to assess the relative importance of human capital, economic, and social capital indicators. To this end...

Spain has recently become the destination for large numbers of international migrants and now ranks as a key focal point for international migration in Europe. Currently, approximately one in ten residents in Spain are foreigners, up more than tenfold from figures holding at the outset of this century. Migration has now become a major social and po...

An isonymic analysis has been carried out using a sample of 1529 reconstituted families residing during 1870-1964 in Aranjuez, an urban area situated south of Madrid, Spain. The random, non-random and total-components inbreeding coefficients from isonymy were obtained and the various combinations of surnames compared in order to infer the patri- or...

In this paper intergenerational dimensions of reproductive behavior are studied within the context of the experience of a mid-sized Spanish town just before and during the demographic transition. Different indicators of reproduction are used in bivariate and multivariate approaches. Fertility shows a small, often statistically significant intergene...

To compare the medical management of menopause across urban areas in four countries which differ by level of income and degree of medicalization. Surveys of health providers who advise women on the menopausal transition were carried out in Beirut, Lebanon (n=100), Madrid, Spain (n=60), Worcester, MA, U.S. (n=59), and Rabat, Morocco (n=50) between 2...

A set of linked reproductive histories taken from the Spanish town of Aranjuez between 1871 and 1950 is used to address key issues regarding reproductive change during the demographic transition. These include the role of child survival as a stimulus for reproductive change, the use of stopping and/or spacing strategies to achieve reproductive goal...

Objective: This study had two main objectives: (1) to detect the differences in basic aspects of the reproductive aging process (age at menopause, menopausal symptoms, the medicalization of aging) among women from the region of Madrid, who at the time of the study were living in three different environmental contexts (rural, semiurban, and urban),...

To investigate reported frequencies of menopausal symptoms among women in four countries, namely Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, and the United States, and to assess the relative role of menopause status, country of residence, and other factors in explaining differences in symptomatology. Surveys of representative samples of approximately 300 women aged 4...

This paper contains thoughts on the process of imminent population decline under way in much of the developed world and quite possibly in other world regions as well. We are witnessing the beginnings of a vast trend change which promises to bring to a close a period of population growth that has lasted for several centuries. It can be shown that th...

This study had two main objectives: (1) to detect the differences in basic aspects of the reproductive aging process (age at menopause, menopausal symptoms, the medicalization of aging) among women from the region of Madrid, who at the time of the study were living in three different environmental contexts (rural, semiurban, and urban), and (2) to...

In this article implications of season of birth for child health in Spain during the demographic transition are explored. Making use of the Aranjuez data base, the authors look at the seasonality of births and its heterogeneities, finding a nearly universal prevalence of late spring and early summer conceptions that is most evident with last-born c...

To assess the symptomatology of menopause and the use of hormone therapy among women in Spain. A survey conducted on a representative sample of 300 women aged 45-55 in Madrid. The instrument included closed- and open-ended questions about demographic and socio-economic information, health and reproductive history, symptoms in past month, use of hea...

La población y los distintos retos relacionados con ella constituyen uno de los temas sociales claves que tiene y tendrá ante sí la sociedad española. En los próximos años, incluso décadas, varios de los retos más importantes que la sociedad tiene están relacionados directamente con la población. Migraciones, envejecimiento, sistemas de pensiones,...

With dramatic declines in fertility taking place throughout the world, it is increasingly important to understand the demographic transition as a global process. While this universality was a cornerstone of classic transition theories, for many decades it was largely neglected by experts because fertility in the developing world did not seem to fol...

This paper is based on the linked intergenerational data set taken from the Spanish town of Aranjuez. In it the authors will look at the a number of the personal and family-level characteristics of migrants and non-migrants during the 1890-1950 period, with reference to males remaining in the town at least until their height is measured for militar...

Linked life histories of children and of their parents living in Aranjuez (Spain) between 1870 and 1950 are used to assess the health and well-being of children in terms of the survival status of their parents. The loss of a mother leads to dramatic increases in the mortality of young children, especially during the first 2 years of life, while the...

A partir de datos provenientes del Censo de Floridablanca, se construyen una serie de indicadores que reflejan la realidad demográfica del momento y que incluyen aproximaciones -a menudo indirectas- a la fecundidad, la mortalidad, la nupcialidad, la estructura por edad, las migraciones y la estructura socioprofesional de la población. Estos indicad...

The Americas 58.3 (2002) 482-483 Ida Altman has identified a significant current of migration between the Castilian town of Brihuega and Puebla in Mexico that first appears during the second half of the sixteenth century and continues until well after 1600. Her painstaking research in largely local archives on both sides of the Atlantic has enabled...

RESUMEN Este trabajo aborda la integración de los distintos mercados regionales de grano en España durante el Antiguo Régimen. Haciendo uso de series de precios y de producción de diversa procedencia, el autor emplea técnicas de estimación relativamente sencillas, desde correlaciones y desviaciones típicas de series sin tendencia hasta modelos de r...

The study of Asian historical demography has lagged behind that of its European and American counterparts for some time. This volume serves to narrow the gap by drawing together material from scholars specializing in demography across the spectrum of Asian countries. The collection divides into four parts and contains nineteen chapters covering iss...

Making use of data on age-specific mortality and cause of death patterns for rural and urban areas of Spain during the first third of the twentieth-century, this paper explores the meaning of the ‘urban penalty’ and how it changed over the course of the demographic transition. The author finds ample proof of the existence of this penalty, especiall...

Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population has for the past two centuries been a constant source of inspiration and debate for scholars working on relationships between population and economy in historical perspective. This book of collected essays-an outcome of an A-session held at the 12th International Congress of Economic History in Madrid,...

Distributed lag models are used to explore the issue of the importance of economic factors for demographic performance over the course of the demographic and economic modernization of Spain. Mortality indicators are generated by age, sex, and cause and are assessed in terms of shifts in Gross Domestic Product. During the pre-transitional period, li...

Mortality change has traditionally been considered a necessary prerequisite to any long-term reduction in fertility. In Frank Notestein's original statement of the demographic transition theory, societies went from high to low levels of fertility and mortality by means of a path in which mortality declined first and was followed at a shorter or lon...

Después de un comienzo tímido y tardío en la primera parte de la década de 1980, el campo de la historia de la familia en España ha experimentado un crecimiento notable en los últimos años, siendo muchos de los trabajos publicados recientemente de calidad elevada. Hoy en día, este campo en España se enfrenta a una serie de retos metodológicos y con...

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in the Western world it is nor difficult to identify areas where families and family ties are relatively "strong" and others where they are relatively "weak." There are regions where traditionally the family group has had priority over the individual, and others where the opposite has tended to happen, with the individual and individual values havi...

"The article presents a brief overview of the historical study of the family in Spain, and deals with household work patterns, labor migration, adaptive strategies of households, and property devolution. From a belated and rater timid beginnings in the early part of the 1980s, the growth of this field in recent years has been noteworthy. The articl...

The relationship between economic realities and demographic behaviour has occupied center stage in most demographic research since Malthus underlined its importance nearly two centuries ago. For Malthus, the ‘invisible hand’ whereby population growth was kept in line with economic realities was materialized through the relationships between economi...

PIP: "Based on published vital statistics and economic data from twentieth century Argentina and Chile, the authors undertake a systematic evaluation of the interactions holding between yearly and monthly economic and demographic fluctuations over much of the present century. Adjustments to data are proposed, as are new approaches to the statistica...

In the present paper, the author argues that both structures and levels of childhood mortality patterns have important implications for family economies in historical and in developing societies. Where mortality is high or when its neonatal component is low relatively to the probabilities of death at higher ages, economies tend to suffer because pa...