Social Differences in Infant Mortality in the Norwegian Parish Asker and Bærum 1814–1878

Abstract

y the turn of the century 1700/1800 less than one in five Norwegian children died before their first birthday. The average hides variations among regions and over time. Infant mortality had, at least in some areas, started its secular decline from the end of the 18th century. Neither in Norway nor in other countries have the causes of decline been definitively identified. One hypothesis has been that the decline in mortality was associated with an increase in prosperity. One would, therefore, expect that infant mortality was higher in the poorer classes, at least during the initial stage of the decline in infant mortality. Researchers have published data on infant mortality according to social groups in some Norwegian family reconstitution studies from different parishes. Usually there are two groups: one consists of farmers, whereas the other is a mixed group of cotters, crofters, laborers, workers, fishermen and sailors. Family reconstitution is very time-consuming work. The results for individual parishes often do not consist of a large number of cases, and the differences found have not been subjected to statistical testing. This makes it difficult to interpret the results, and the researchers are usually reluctant to make substantial conclusions. One exception is a study not based on study of a single parish, but rather on linkage between records from church registers from 45 randomly chosen parishes for two to five years around