At the same time as not contraception, infant mortality was ridiculously high. To the point that people that high estimates put the IMR at about 1/3.
There’s a reason people married young historically- they needed to start getting kids popping out. Or at least that was the mentality. More kids meant more stability and safety. Kids were free labor, the first male would inherit most or everything so that wasn’t really a problem. So they popped out a lot because the first five years were… awful.
At the same time as not contraception, infant mortality was ridiculously high. To the point that people that high estimates put the IMR at about 1/3.
There’s a reason people married young historically- they needed to start getting kids popping out. Or at least that was the mentality. More kids meant more stability and safety. Kids were free labor, the first male would inherit most or everything so that wasn’t really a problem. So they popped out a lot because the first five years were… awful.