Why weren't (many) European women 'missing'?

► There is little evidence of 'missing' girls and women in western Europe's past. ► Family structures, women's paid labor, and elements of popular Christianity were key. ► Most European families did not conform to types linked to 'missing' girls and women. ► There is evidence of a rise in female relative mortality in the modern period. ► This 'excess' mortality probably stemmed mainly from changes in work conditions.