Full Citation
Title: From Pragmatic to Sentimental Adoption? Child Adoption in the United States, 1880-1930
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2009
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI:
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: Adoption, as an alternative to childbearing, is a widely accepted means of creating a family inthe U.S. today. According to the historical literature, a modern form of adoption was a legalinnovation in the mid-19th century that evolved over time and had profound implications forthe welfare of adopted children and adoptive parents. Due to the lack of quantitative data,however, we know little about the extent and nature of adoption in the U.S. before WWII.How widely was adoption practiced before its widespread social acceptance? Who adoptedchildren, and what motivated them to adopt? How did adopted children fare compared tobiological children? In this paper, using microdata from the federal censuses in 1880-1930and 2000, I document the prevalence of adoption and study the characteristics of adoptivechildren and their households. Among other things, I re-evaluate the commonly heldhypothesis that, during the early 20th century, adoption evolved from pragmatic tosentimental adoption as adoptive parents began to demand children not for their potentiallabor value but for the utility of parenting itself. This paper provides the first empiricalanalysis of adoption in the pre-WWII U.S. using nationally representative data.
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Moriguchi, Chiaki
Publisher: Northwestern University
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage
Countries: