Effects of Employment on Fertility after the First Birth

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this project is to analyze the relationship between women's employment after the first birth and the transition to the second birth, conditional on future fertility expectations. The project is motivated by the search to understand the determinants of fertility in a low-fertility context. Women's labor force participation has been proposed as a primary factor influencing the number of births, but both individual and macro-level characteristics mediate the negative relationship between employment and fertility. This project tests hypotheses regarding the magnitude and direction of the effect of employment after the first birth on women's likelihood of having a second child. In addition, it explores variation in this relationship by race, marital status, and education level. The analysis uses event history methods to estimate the effects of covariates on the hazard of second birth, as well as statistical techniques to account for mutual causation between fertility, fertility intentions, and labor force participation.