Season of birth and early childhood mortality: a review of the debate and a case study for the Netherlands, 1812-1912

Historically, all components of demography – migration, fertility, nuptial- ity and mortality – were strongly affected by the seasons of the year. Re- ligious prescriptions, weather conditions, the production cycle in agriculture and other sectors of the economy, the availability of food, all had an effect on the propensity of people to marry, to reproduce, to leave their place of living, and to die. Long-term changes in these active forces may have altered this seasonal patterning, but seasonality is still clearly visible in most demographic indicators. An enormous number of mostly local studies have become available on marriage, birth, and death season- ality. What has been lacking until now is a study in which these different demographic processes are analyzed within a common framework. Theo Engelen’s new project ‘The Rhythm of Life’ is intended to do just that. Theo has, in his long career, worked on a variety of demographic developments and has shown a great sensitivity for the role that economic and cultural forces play in determining the outcome of these developments. He is therefore the right person to offer us a comprehensive framework for the study of the relationship between the passing of the seasons and demo- graphic processes. The four seasons of the year are often used as an alle- gory of the human life course and we hope for a long harvesting season for Theo.