Kinship network, direct childcare, and fertility among Hungarians and Gypsies

This study is based on fieldwork that was conducted in a Gypsy and a Hungarian non-Gypsy population. The main goal of our study was to examine the primary factors having the largest impact on Gypsy fertility. Contrary to widespread views based mainly on anecdotal evidence-level of education, occupational status, or use of contraceptive pills does not seem to have a profound influence on the number of births. In fact, the evidence suggests that the extensiveness of kinship networks and the degree of the relatives' assistance with childcare are most strongly predictive of fertility in the Gypsy population. Our data proved to be highly supportive of the evolutionary hypothesis that personal services through kinship networks are particularly valuable resources, accounting for the higher fertility in more traditional societies compared to technologically more advanced ones. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.