Full Citation
Title: Using Cyclical and Secular Properties of Fertility to Distinguish Among Theories of Female Labor Participation
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2009
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI:
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID:
Abstract: There has been a sharp rise in labor force participation of married women andespecially women with young children between the 1970s and 1990s in the UnitedStates. Over the same period, cyclical and secular properties of fertility have changedsignificantly. In particular, I document that fertility rate is strongly countercyclicalin the 1960s and 1970s and procyclical thereafter. In addition, women have post-poned childbearing substantially. Using a life-cycle incomplete markets model withaggregate and idiosyncratic uncertainty, I show that cyclical properties and timingof fertility are related to labor force participation decisions of married women. Themodel calibrated to 1960s and 1970s generates countercyclical fertility. A number ofexplanations have been proposed to account for the increase in female labor supply, inparticular a decrease in gender wage gap, an increase in womens returns to experienceand a decrease in child care cost. I introduce these changes into the calibrated modeland evaluate the implications for female labor force participation and properties offertility. I find that each of them separately and all combined can explain some butnot all features of the data. Taking into account the flattening of life-cycle earningsprofile for males helps to account for the data but a significant discrepancy remains.
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Stetsenko, Sergiy
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage, Fertility and Mortality, Labor Force and Occupational Structure
Countries: United States