Censorship, Family Planning, and the Historical Fertility Transition

The historical fertility transition is one of the most important events in economic history. This study provides new evidence on the role that ideas about family planning played in this transition. We begin by documenting a link between the famous Bradlaugh-Besant trial that took place in England in 1877, which revolved around the morality of family planning, and the sharp decline in fertility that took place in Britain beginning in that year. We then show that similar declines are observed among populations living outside of Britain but with strong cultural and linguistic links to Britain. Our findings highlight the importance of changing social norms in the historical fertility transition and provide novel evidence showing that cultural and linguistic ties can play an important role in rapidly transmitting social change around the world.