The Impact of Kin Co-residence on Survival Chances of Infants and Children in the Netherlands, 1863-1909. A New Methodological Approach

Abstract

In this article, we present the first results of a new approach to the study of survival chances of Dutch children born between 1863 and 1909 (N=30157). We take a ‘snapshot’ of the household composition at 90-days intervals and relate that to survival chances of the children, using a generalized linear model. We look at the impact of different types of co-resident kin, after controlling for many variables that also affect child survival. The results suggest a strong positive effect of the mother’s mother and the father’s father, as well as of older siblings. Significant positive effects were also found for father’s mother and for uncles. Our outcomes suggest that adding the presence of family members of different type to the commonly used covariates yields a more complete picture of infant and child well-being.