Parental loss in 18th–19th century Hungary: the impact of the parents’ widowhood and remarriage on their children’s survival, Zsámbék, 1720–1850

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the consequences of the dissolution and reorganization of families (death of one or both of the spouses, remarriage of the surviving partner) from the perspective of children (half-orphans, orphans, stepchildren). It concentrates on the survival of children, analysing the impacts of parental loss and remarriage on the risk of children’s death. The analysis is based on the family reconstitution database of a Hungarian settlement (Zsámbék) inhabited mostly by Roman Catholic German settlers. The study focuses on individuals born between 1720 and 1850, it follows them from birth to death or age 15, besides descriptive statistics the analysis is based on event history models. By using Cox regression in three models this article examines the impacts of parental loss and remarriage and the effects of having stepsiblings and half-siblings within stepfamilies. According to the results, parental loss had serious consequences but remarriage and the appearance of stepparents had not in most of the cases a negative effect on children’s survival. The analysis stresses the special role of women in premodern households instead of a ‘Cinderella effect’, under certain circumstances the burden of household work and child care could increase enormously, which resulted in increased competition among family members, especially among children and stepchildren.