Bitter Fruits of “A Merry Life?” Survival Chances of Children Born Out of Wedlock in Nineteenth-century Rural Estonia

Abstract

The article explores the survival chances of children born out of wedlock in the Russian Baltic province of Livland from 1834 to 1891 and is based on court records as well as individual-level vital events data. The absence of a consistent mortality penalty for illegitimate infants and the considerable proportion of single mothers who went on to marry point to the lack of a strong social stigma. Other indicators, such as rates of stillbirths and early childhood mortality, mother’s age and socioeconomic status, and the time span between the birth and marriage, give evidence of marginalization.