Sibship size and the biological standard of living in industrial Catalonia, c.1860-c.1920: a case study

Abstract

By using military records and population censuses this article investigates the relationship between sibship size and the biological living standards of young males, as measured by height. Focusing on a medium-sized industrial town in Catalonia the analysis shows that the impact of sibship size on child outcomes, as hypothesised by the resource dilution explanation, was rather weak during the years of the first fertility transition. Sibship size affected the height of young males only in certain socioeconomic groups and in specific periods of time, and not always in the expected direction. The article also explores the potential role of confounding factors in the link between sibship size and height, as well as the complexity of this relationship.