Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters

Abigail E. Page; Erik J. Ringen; Jeremy Koster; Monique Borgerhoff Mulder; Karen Kramer; Mary K. Shenk; Jonathan Stieglitz; Kathrine Starkweather; John P. Ziker; Adam H. Boyette; Heidi Colleran; Cristina Moya; Juan Du; Siobhán M. Mattison; Russell Greaves; Chun-Yi Sum; Ruizhe Liu; Sheina Lew-Levy; Francy Kiabiya Ntamboudila; Sean Prall; Mary C. Towner; Tami Blumenfield; Andrea B. Migliano; Daniel Major-Smith; Mark Dyble; Gul Deniz Salali; Nikhil Chaudhary; Inez E. Derkx; Cody T. Ross; Brooke A. Scelza; Michael D. Gurven; Bruce P. Winterhalder; Carmen Cortez; Luis Pacheco-Cobos; Ryan Schacht; Shane J. Macfarlan; Donna Leonetti; Jennifer C. French; Nurul Alam; Fatema tuz Zohora; Hillard S. Kaplan; Paul L. Hooper; Rebecca Sear

doi:10.1073/pnas.2318181121

Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters

Abigail E. Page^*, Erik J. Ringen, Jeremy Koster, Monique Borgerhoff Mulder, Karen Kramer, Mary K. Shenk, Jonathan Stieglitz, Kathrine Starkweather, John P. Ziker, Adam H. Boyette, Heidi Colleran, Cristina Moya, Juan Du, Siobhán M. Mattison, Russell Greaves, Chun-Yi Sum, Ruizhe Liu, Sheina Lew-Levy, Francy Kiabiya Ntamboudila, Sean PrallMary C. Towner, Tami Blumenfield, Andrea B. Migliano, Daniel Major-Smith, Mark Dyble, Gul Deniz Salali, Nikhil Chaudhary, Inez E. Derkx, Cody T. Ross, Brooke A. Scelza, Michael D. Gurven, Bruce P. Winterhalder, Carmen Cortez, Luis Pacheco-Cobos, Ryan Schacht, Shane J. Macfarlan, Donna Leonetti, Jennifer C. French, Nurul Alam, Fatema tuz Zohora, Hillard S. Kaplan, Paul L. Hooper, Rebecca Sear

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities?incorporating market integration?are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as ?farmers? did not have higher fertility than others, while ?foragers? did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.

Original language	English
Article number	e2318181121
Pages (from-to)	e2318181121
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume	121
Issue number	9
Early online date	12 Feb 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318181121
Publication status	Published - 27 Feb 2024

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© 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

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Page, A. E., Ringen, E. J., Koster, J., Borgerhoff Mulder, M., Kramer, K., Shenk, M. K., Stieglitz, J., Starkweather, K., Ziker, J. P., Boyette, A. H., Colleran, H., Moya, C., Du, J., Mattison, S. M., Greaves, R., Sum, C.-Y., Liu, R., Lew-Levy, S., Kiabiya Ntamboudila, F., ... Sear, R. (2024). Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(9), e2318181121. Article e2318181121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318181121

@article{cbfffbd67b8841e189b6e72affcc386e,

title = "Women{\textquoteright}s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters",

abstract = "While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities?incorporating market integration?are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as ?farmers? did not have higher fertility than others, while ?foragers? did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.",

author = "Page, {Abigail E.} and Ringen, {Erik J.} and Jeremy Koster and {Borgerhoff Mulder}, Monique and Karen Kramer and Shenk, {Mary K.} and Jonathan Stieglitz and Kathrine Starkweather and Ziker, {John P.} and Boyette, {Adam H.} and Heidi Colleran and Cristina Moya and Juan Du and Mattison, {Siobh{\'a}n M.} and Russell Greaves and Chun-Yi Sum and Ruizhe Liu and Sheina Lew-Levy and {Kiabiya Ntamboudila}, Francy and Sean Prall and Towner, {Mary C.} and Tami Blumenfield and Migliano, {Andrea B.} and Daniel Major-Smith and Mark Dyble and Salali, {Gul Deniz} and Nikhil Chaudhary and Derkx, {Inez E.} and Ross, {Cody T.} and Scelza, {Brooke A.} and Gurven, {Michael D.} and Winterhalder, {Bruce P.} and Carmen Cortez and Luis Pacheco-Cobos and Ryan Schacht and Macfarlan, {Shane J.} and Donna Leonetti and French, {Jennifer C.} and Nurul Alam and Zohora, {Fatema tuz} and Kaplan, {Hillard S.} and Hooper, {Paul L.} and Rebecca Sear",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.",

year = "2024",

month = feb,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2318181121",

language = "English",

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Page, AE, Ringen, EJ, Koster, J, Borgerhoff Mulder, M, Kramer, K, Shenk, MK, Stieglitz, J, Starkweather, K, Ziker, JP, Boyette, AH, Colleran, H, Moya, C, Du, J, Mattison, SM, Greaves, R, Sum, C-Y, Liu, R, Lew-Levy, S, Kiabiya Ntamboudila, F, Prall, S, Towner, MC, Blumenfield, T, Migliano, AB, Major-Smith, D, Dyble, M, Salali, GD, Chaudhary, N, Derkx, IE, Ross, CT, Scelza, BA, Gurven, MD, Winterhalder, BP, Cortez, C, Pacheco-Cobos, L, Schacht, R, Macfarlan, SJ, Leonetti, D, French, JC, Alam, N, Zohora, FT, Kaplan, HS, Hooper, PL & Sear, R 2024, 'Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 121, no. 9, e2318181121, pp. e2318181121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318181121

TY - JOUR

T1 - Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters

AU - Page, Abigail E.

AU - Ringen, Erik J.

AU - Koster, Jeremy

AU - Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique

AU - Kramer, Karen

AU - Shenk, Mary K.

AU - Stieglitz, Jonathan

AU - Starkweather, Kathrine

AU - Ziker, John P.

AU - Boyette, Adam H.

AU - Colleran, Heidi

AU - Moya, Cristina

AU - Du, Juan

AU - Mattison, Siobhán M.

AU - Greaves, Russell

AU - Sum, Chun-Yi

AU - Liu, Ruizhe

AU - Lew-Levy, Sheina

AU - Kiabiya Ntamboudila, Francy

AU - Prall, Sean

AU - Towner, Mary C.

AU - Blumenfield, Tami

AU - Migliano, Andrea B.

AU - Major-Smith, Daniel

AU - Dyble, Mark

AU - Salali, Gul Deniz

AU - Chaudhary, Nikhil

AU - Derkx, Inez E.

AU - Ross, Cody T.

AU - Scelza, Brooke A.

AU - Gurven, Michael D.

AU - Winterhalder, Bruce P.

AU - Cortez, Carmen

AU - Pacheco-Cobos, Luis

AU - Schacht, Ryan

AU - Macfarlan, Shane J.

AU - Leonetti, Donna

AU - French, Jennifer C.

AU - Alam, Nurul

AU - Zohora, Fatema tuz

AU - Kaplan, Hillard S.

AU - Hooper, Paul L.

AU - Sear, Rebecca

PY - 2024/2/27

Y1 - 2024/2/27

N2 - While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities?incorporating market integration?are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as ?farmers? did not have higher fertility than others, while ?foragers? did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.

AB - While it is commonly assumed that farmers have higher, and foragers lower, fertility compared to populations practicing other forms of subsistence, robust supportive evidence is lacking. We tested whether subsistence activities?incorporating market integration?are associated with fertility in 10,250 women from 27 small-scale societies and found considerable variation in fertility. This variation did not align with group-level subsistence typologies. Societies labeled as ?farmers? did not have higher fertility than others, while ?foragers? did not have lower fertility. However, at the individual level, we found strong evidence that fertility was positively associated with farming and moderate evidence of a negative relationship between foraging and fertility. Markers of market integration were strongly negatively correlated with fertility. Despite strong cross-cultural evidence, these relationships were not consistent in all populations, highlighting the importance of the socioecological context, which likely influences the diverse mechanisms driving the relationship between fertility and subsistence.

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2318181121

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2318181121

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 38346210

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 121

SP - e2318181121

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

IS - 9

M1 - e2318181121

ER -

Women’s subsistence strategies predict fertility across cultures, but context matters

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