This paper investigates the impact of kin on child survival in a matrilineal society in Malawi. Women usually live in close proximity to their matrilineal kin in this agricultural community, allowing opportunities for helping behavior between matrilineal relatives. However, there is little evidence that matrilineal kin are beneficial to children. On the contrary, child mortality rates appear to be higher in the presence of maternal grandmothers and maternal aunts. These effects are modified by the sex of child and resource ownership: (...) female children and children in households where women, rather than men, own land suffer higher mortality rates in the presence of maternal kin. These modifiers suggest the detrimental effects of matrilineal kin may result from competition between such kin for resources. There are some positive effects of kin on child survival: the presence of elder siblings of both sexes is correlated with higher survival rates, and there is some weak evidence that paternal grandmothers may be beneficial to a child’s survival chances. There is little evidence that any male kin, whether matrilineal or patrilineal, and including fathers, affect child mortality rates. This study highlights the importance of taking social and ecological context into account when investigating relationships between kin. (shrink)

The wealthy elite males of nineteenth-century Krummhörn (Ostfriesland, Germany) achieved an above-average reproductive success. Membership in the elite class was determined from a list of the 300 richest men in the Ostfriesland district compiled by authorities in 1812. The main components establishing the link between cultural success and reproductive success aredifferences in the number of offspring owing to differences both in time spent in fecund marriage (mating success) and in rate of reproduction;differences in the probabilities of one’s adult offspring marrying (...) locally vs. emigrating unmarried owing to differential ability to allocate resources that enhance the “social placement” of adult offspring; anddifferences in the probability of total reproductive failure (lineage extinction).Contrary to what might be expected, infant survivorship was lowest amongst the richest families. We conclude that to a great extent females’ reproductive decisions contribute to the greater reproductive success of the elite males. (shrink)