18th Century Society

Marriage and Family

A. Prior to 17501. Nuclear family

a. Young married couples lived away from parents

2. Marriage age highera. Late 20’s or older for both men and women

• Self-support

3. Permission or approval of local lord or landownera. Austria and Germanyb. Fear of poverty and abandoned childrenc. THIS PATTERN MAINTAINED SOME BALANCE

BETWEEN POPULATION AND RESOURCES

Marriage and Family

A. Prior to 17501. Children

a. Out of wedlock birth rates low• Powerful social control• Premarital sex limited to couples already thinking about marriage

b. Infant mortality rates

B. New Patterns after 17501. Growth of cottage industry increased income

a. Resulted in higher rates of marriage for love• Financial independence• Arranged marriages declined• Law and regulations ignored

Marriage and Family

B. New Patterns after 17502. Population explosion

a. Increased illegitimacy• Mobility• Open rebellion

3. Women in citiesa. Not motivated by emancipation and sexual liberation

• Marriage was escape from hard life

C. Attitudes toward children1. Child care and nursing

A. Poorer women• Breast feeding• Spaced births• Infants more likely to survive

Marriage and Family

C. Attitudes toward children1. Child care and nursing

a. Poorer womenb. Women of aristocracy and upper-middle class

• Seldom breast fed children• Hired wet-nurses

~ “Killing nurses”

2. Infanticidea. Rampant due to severe povertyb. Foundling hospitals emerged, first in Paris then throughout Europe