This paper reconsiders the fertility of historical social groups 
by accounting for singleness and childlessness. We find that the
 middle class had the highest reproductive success during England's
 early industrial development. In light of the greater propensity
 of the middle class to invest in human capital, the rise in the
 prevalence of these traits in the population could have been
 instrumental to England's economic success. Unlike earlier results
 about the survival of the richest, the paper shows that the
 reproductive success of the rich (and also the poor) were lower
 than that of the middle class, once accounting for singleness
 and childlessness. Hence, the prosperity of England over this
 period can be attributed to the increase in the prevalence of
 middle-class traits rather than those of the upper (or lower) class.