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For most of human history, by the time you were an adult one or more of your parents were likely dead anyway.
by throwawaygal7 5y ago
For most of human history, by the time you were an adult one or more of your parents were likely dead anyway.
- retrac 5y agoIt was certainly very common before the 20th century, particularly one's mother given childbirth in those times. But I think you may be wrong about most. While the simple life expectancy was so awfully low, much of that was infant mortality. If you look just at life expectancy of those who had already reached adolescence, it was not quite so dire. In particularly prosperous eras and places with relatively low disease, you could at the age of 15 expect to quite likely live to 50. Now, hoping to see 70 was rather optimistic, but you wouldn't be the oldest person in your village probably. And for Britain in the mid 18th century, making it to 70 nearly has odds in your favour. Though I guess that's coming to early modern times.