Do Data from Large Personal Networks Support Cultural Evolutionary Ideas about Kin and Fertility?

Gert Stulp and Louise Barrett
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Gert Stulp: Department of Sociology & Inter-University Center for Social Science Theory and Methodology, Grote Rozenstraat 31, 9712 TS Groningen, The Netherlands
Louise Barrett: Department of Psychology, Science Commons, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB T1K 3M4, Canada

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: The fertility decline associated with economic development has been attributed to a host of interrelated causes including the rising costs of children with industrialization, and shifts in family structure. One hypothesis is that kin may impart more pro-natal information within their networks than non-kin, and that this effect may be exacerbated in networks with high kin-density where greater social conformity would be expected. In this study, we tested these ideas using large personal networks (25 associates of the respondent) collected from a sample of Dutch women ( N = 706). Kin (parents) were perceived to exert slightly more social pressure to have children than non-kin, although dense networks were not associated with greater pressure. In contrast, women reported talking to friends about having children to a greater extent than kin, although greater kin-density in the network increased the likelihood of women reporting that they could talk to kin about having children. Both consanguineal and affinal kin could be asked to help with child-care to a greater extent than friends and other non-kin. Overall, there was mixed evidence that kin were more likely to offer pro-natal information than non-kin, and better evidence to suggest that kin were considered to be a better source of child-care support.

Keywords: kin; affinal kin; density; personal network; social support; social pressure; fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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