Christa Matthys has a PhD in history (Ghent University, 2012). In her dissertation, she investigated the role of female domestic servants in the fertility decline in Flanders, 1830-1930. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow of the Research Foundation -Flanders (FWO) at Ghent University. Previously, she has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock (Germany) and published on fertility change, domestic service, maternal health, and social diffusion of demographic ideas and behaviors.