The Quality of Vital Registration of the Jews in East-Central Europe in the Nineteenth Century
Journal: Studia Judaica
Year: 2021

Vital records are one of the main sources providing insight into the demographic past. For most of the nineteenth century, however, the degree of under-registration of vital events among Jews was much higher than among non-Jews. These omissions undermine the credibility of demographic data on fertility and mortality published in contemporary statistical yearbooks. The analysis shows that the male-to-female ratio at birth aggregated on a regional level reveals the highest under-registration among