Determinants of marriage patterns among farmers and agricultural laborers in two eighteenth-century dutch villages

Eighteenth-century population listings and church records are used to examine the determinants of marriage patterns in an agricultural population. Using macro-level data it is shown that the availability of mates has relatively little effect on marriage patterns. Using micro-level data it is shown that determinants affect marriage patterns differentially across occupational groups. Special attention is given to explaining marital behavior among agricultural laborers. A determinant of their marriage patterns is suggested which has received little attention so far: the attractiveness of marriage relative to service in husbandry.