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Household socioeconomic status and mortality in Tokugawa Japan: Evidence from three northeastern villages 1708–1870

Noriko Tsuya, Keio University
Satomi Kurosu, Reitaku University

This study examines the relationships between household socioeconomic status and individual mortality among men and women in three farming villages in northeastern Japan from 1708–1870. Using the local population registers called “ninbetsu-aratame-cho”, we estimate the effects of household socioeconomic status on mortality of males and females at different stages of life. In preindustrial society in which public health and social welfare measures were under-developed, family and household were much more important than today in determining individuals’ changes of survival. Especially in preindustrial rural communities in early modern Japan in which family farming was the dominant form of agriculture, individual vulnerability is thought to have been greatly affected by the socioeconomic status of his/her household. Using the discrete-time event history analysis, we seek to account for the socioeconomic and household factors of individuals' probability of dying at three different life stages: childhood (age 1-15), adulthood (age 15-54), and old age (55-74).

Keywords: Historical demography/methods, Mortality, Event history analysis

See paper.

  Presented in Session P11.