Do parents really matter? Child health and development in Spain during the demographic transition

Linked life histories of children and of their parents living in Aranjuez (Spain) between 1870 and 1950 are used to assess the health and well-being of children in terms of the survival status of their parents. The loss of a mother leads to dramatic increases in the mortality of young children, especially during the first 2 years of life, while the loss of a father has a rather limited negative impact. Over time the relative importance of the loss of a mother increases sharply, thus affording strong, albeit indirect, evidence of their role for mortality reduction during the demographic transition. Heights of military conscripts are used to assess other elements of health unrelated to survival. Results suggest that orphans were noticeably shorter than non-orphans. Over time this effect diminishes thanks to increasingly effective public assistance for orphans.