Years of plenty, years of want? : An introduction to finance and the family life cycle

Summary, in English

Research suggests that until recently families in history could only avoid episodes of poverty if they put money aside. By helping to smooth consumption over the family life cycle, finance could prevent impoverishment, and is also likely to have had an effect on family life. Saving may have influenced cohabitation structures and the timing and incidence of birth, marriage, and death. That families depended on finance is underlined by the fact that some financial institutions and instruments were specifically developed to help families to smooth consumption over the life cycle. Families’ demand for finance thus also shaped financial institutions and instruments. This Introduction provides an overview of how families’ demand for finance shaped financial institutions and instruments, and how finance may have helped families to prevent episodes of poverty, and explains how the contributions to this special issue tie into this.

• Author: Christiaan Van Bochove; Jaco Zuijderduijn
• Department/s: Department of Economic History; Financial history, banking and insurance; Growth, technological change, and inequality
• Publishing year: 2022
• Language: English
• Pages: 201-220
• Publication/Series: The History of the Family
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 2
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1081602X.2022.2080244
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Topic: Economic History; Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
• Keywords: Family life cycle; Family history; Financial History; Life-cycle saving
• Status: Published
• Project: Golden years. Understanding the retirement business in pre-modern Europe, c.1250-c.1800
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 1081-602X