Volume 7 - Article 13 | Pages 469–498  

A multilevel event history analysis of the effects of grandmothers on child mortality in a historical German population: Krummhörn, Ostfriesland, 1720-1874

By Jan Beise, Eckart Voland

Abstract

We analyzed data from the historic population of the Krummhörn (Ostfriesland, Germany, 1720-1874) to determine the effects of grandparents in general and grandmothers in particular on child mortality. Multilevel event-history models were used to test how the survival of grandparents in general influenced the survival of the children. Random effects were included in some models in order to take the potentially influential effect of unobserved heterogeneity into account.
It could be shown that while maternal grandmothers indeed improved the child’s survival, paternal grandmothers worsened it. Both grandfathers had no effect. These findings are not only in accordance with the assumptions of the "grandmother hypothesis" but also may be interpreted as hints for differential grandparental investment strategies.

Author's Affiliation

Most recent similar articles in Demographic Research

The division of housework and childcare from a dyadic perspective: Discrepancies between partners’ reports across the transition to parenthood
Volume 51 - Article 30    | Keywords: division of labor, dyadic data, Germany, informant discrepancy, transition to parenthood

Family inequality: On the changing educational gradient of family patterns in Western Germany
Volume 48 - Article 20    | Keywords: census data, descriptive analysis, divorce, educational inequality, family, Germany, marriage, partnership, time, trends

Do the consequences of parental separation for children’s educational success vary by parental education? The role of educational thresholds
Volume 47 - Article 28    | Keywords: divorce, educational attainment, family, Germany, interaction, resource compensation, separation, sibling fixed effects

Household transitions between ages 5 and 15 and educational outcomes: Fathers and grandparents in Peru
Volume 46 - Article 14    | Keywords: child development, fathers, grandparents, household transitions, Peru

COVID-19 fatality in Germany: Demographic determinants of variation in case-fatality rates across and within German federal states during the first and second waves
Volume 45 - Article 45    | Keywords: case fatality rate, COVID-19, decomposition, demographic composition, Germany