The Netherlands, with dozens of different religious denominations, offer a fine laboratory to stu... more The Netherlands, with dozens of different religious denominations, offer a fine laboratory to study religious differentials in demographic behavior. In this article, I analyze a large historical database with more than 30.000 reconstructed life courses, to answer the question whether statistically significant and consistent behavioral differences across life course domains existed between members of different churches. For each domain – marriage, co-residence, fertility and mortality – the question will be whether the specific ideology of the denominations accounts for the differences or whether the social milieu or life style of the members of these denomination are more important, even after controlling for socio-economic status. By charting demographic differentials across the life course, it becomes possible to detect whether different churches had specific “life scripts” or ideal scenarios according to which their members should live their lives.
Why were some families scattered over a larger area than others? In this article we use a dataset... more Why were some families scattered over a larger area than others? In this article we use a dataset with the complete life courses of all siblings originating from 210 families, whose parents married in the same village in the commercialized North-western part of the Netherlands in order to discover the determinants of sibling dispersal. Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that the survival status of the parents, the civil status of the siblings and the size and gender composition of the sibling set were the most important factors behind dispersal patterns.
This articles offers an overview of four centuries of ‘forbidden relations’ in The Netherlands. F... more This articles offers an overview of four centuries of ‘forbidden relations’ in The Netherlands. From the late sixteenth century onwards, the dominant Calvinist church tried to ‘purify’ the Dutch nation by persecuting all forms of fornication, adultery, incest, and sodomy. The French period (1795-1813) separated church and state, and removed several forms of forbidden relations from the penal code. But social control on relations remained intense. An ‘ideal’ marriage was based on equality of the spouses in terms of social background, religion and age, and parents as well as the local community made sure young people made the ‘right’ choice. In the late nineteenth century, competition between religious groups intensified, and mixed marriages became even more problematic. In the 1960s and 1970s all this began to change, and many rule and norms regarding partner choice were relaxed. An example of the changes over time are unmarried cohabitations which transformed from a crime (sanctioned by banishment) to deviant behaviour (sanctions through withholding poor relief) to a more or less normative ‘trial marriage’.
The Netherlands, with dozens of different religious denominations, offer a fine laboratory to stu... more The Netherlands, with dozens of different religious denominations, offer a fine laboratory to study religious differentials in demographic behavior. In this article, I analyze a large historical database with more than 30.000 reconstructed life courses, to answer the question whether statistically significant and consistent behavioral differences across life course domains existed between members of different churches. For each domain – marriage, co-residence, fertility and mortality – the question will be whether the specific ideology of the denominations accounts for the differences or whether the social milieu or life style of the members of these denomination are more important, even after controlling for socio-economic status. By charting demographic differentials across the life course, it becomes possible to detect whether different churches had specific “life scripts” or ideal scenarios according to which their members should live their lives.
Why were some families scattered over a larger area than others? In this article we use a dataset... more Why were some families scattered over a larger area than others? In this article we use a dataset with the complete life courses of all siblings originating from 210 families, whose parents married in the same village in the commercialized North-western part of the Netherlands in order to discover the determinants of sibling dispersal. Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that the survival status of the parents, the civil status of the siblings and the size and gender composition of the sibling set were the most important factors behind dispersal patterns.
This articles offers an overview of four centuries of ‘forbidden relations’ in The Netherlands. F... more This articles offers an overview of four centuries of ‘forbidden relations’ in The Netherlands. From the late sixteenth century onwards, the dominant Calvinist church tried to ‘purify’ the Dutch nation by persecuting all forms of fornication, adultery, incest, and sodomy. The French period (1795-1813) separated church and state, and removed several forms of forbidden relations from the penal code. But social control on relations remained intense. An ‘ideal’ marriage was based on equality of the spouses in terms of social background, religion and age, and parents as well as the local community made sure young people made the ‘right’ choice. In the late nineteenth century, competition between religious groups intensified, and mixed marriages became even more problematic. In the 1960s and 1970s all this began to change, and many rule and norms regarding partner choice were relaxed. An example of the changes over time are unmarried cohabitations which transformed from a crime (sanctioned by banishment) to deviant behaviour (sanctions through withholding poor relief) to a more or less normative ‘trial marriage’.
This article is based on the reconstructed life course patterns of about 1500 adolescent men and ... more This article is based on the reconstructed life course patterns of about 1500 adolescent men and women, born between 1833 and 1912 in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The incidence of youth migration is investigated by sex, birth period, and birthplace. The influence of the family on the decision to migrate is analyzed with event history techniques. The results are evaluated in the context of regional customs related to the process of leaving home. A large number of persons, between 30 and 55 percent of all unmarried youths, participated in youth migration. However, family strategies were more directed toward keeping offspring from migrating than toward stimulating them to move.
The book studies social, cultural and demographic causes of illegitimate births in one province o... more The book studies social, cultural and demographic causes of illegitimate births in one province of The Netherlands (1812-1914)
This volume aims to provide inspiration for the future of historical demography. Prominent schola... more This volume aims to provide inspiration for the future of historical demography. Prominent scholars were invited to ect critically on where the discipline of historical demography stands now, to reproach us for what we have missed, to indicate key trends in research we must engage with, and to stimulate us to link our future work to other disciplines. Authors were asked to write a provocative pamphlet for the future and to think outside the normal academic boxes. Here the authors present 60 provoking ideas. With contributions by Simon Szreter, Angelique Janssens, David Reher, walter Scheidel, Michel Poulain, Cameron Campbell, Alice Reid, Steven Ruggles, and many others.
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Papers by Jan Kok
behavior. In this article, I analyze a large historical database with more
than 30.000 reconstructed life courses, to answer the question whether statistically significant and consistent behavioral differences across life course domains existed between members of different churches. For each domain – marriage, co-residence, fertility and mortality – the question will be whether the specific ideology of the denominations accounts for the differences or whether the social milieu or life style of the members of these denomination are more important, even after controlling for socio-economic status. By charting demographic
differentials across the life course, it becomes possible to detect
whether different churches had specific “life scripts” or ideal scenarios according to which their members should live their lives.
North-western part of the Netherlands in order to discover the determinants of sibling dispersal. Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that the survival status of the parents, the civil status of the siblings and the size and gender composition of the sibling set were the most important factors behind dispersal patterns.
behavior. In this article, I analyze a large historical database with more
than 30.000 reconstructed life courses, to answer the question whether statistically significant and consistent behavioral differences across life course domains existed between members of different churches. For each domain – marriage, co-residence, fertility and mortality – the question will be whether the specific ideology of the denominations accounts for the differences or whether the social milieu or life style of the members of these denomination are more important, even after controlling for socio-economic status. By charting demographic
differentials across the life course, it becomes possible to detect
whether different churches had specific “life scripts” or ideal scenarios according to which their members should live their lives.
North-western part of the Netherlands in order to discover the determinants of sibling dispersal. Using multinomial logistic regression, we found that the survival status of the parents, the civil status of the siblings and the size and gender composition of the sibling set were the most important factors behind dispersal patterns.