Origins and implications of family structure across Italian provinces in historical perspective

In this study we review the literature on the origins and implications of family
structure in historical perspective with a focus on Italian provinces. Furthermore we present newlycollected data on three of the main features of family structure: female mean age at marriage, the
female celibacy rate, and the fraction of illegitimate births. The data are collected at the provincial
level for 1871, the year of Italy's political unification. The analysis of the data allows us to confirm
and quantify the geographic differentiation in family patterns across the country. We also illustrate
the links between family structure and a set of socio-economic outcomes, in the short, medium, and
long run.