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Source: Research in Population Economics
Resulting in 3 citations.
1. Falaris, Evangelos M.
Peters, H. Elizabeth
Responses of Female Labor Supply and Fertility to the Demographic Cycle
Research in Population Economics 8 (1996): 63-89.
Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12320269
Cohort(s): Mature Women, NLSY79, Young Women
Publisher: JAI Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Demography; Fertility; Labor Force Participation; Labor Supply; Labor Turnover; Modeling, Hazard/Event History/Survival/Duration; Wages

We propose a model in which women alter the timing of childbearing and duration of time not working following childbearing in order to mitigate any adverse effects of the demographic cycle on their lifetime wages. The responses to the demographic cycle include both a standard opportunity cost argument women are more likely to leave the labor force when wages are low and a more complicated and forward looking cohort choice effect in which the timing of labor force participation can enable a woman to join a labor market cohort with a more favorable lifetime wage profile. We explore the reduced-form empirical implications of our model and estimate the importance of these two responses utilizing data from three cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market Experience which include women born from 1918-1964. The hazard rate estimates of the timing of the first birth and the return to work following that birth indicate that women who were born during the upswing of the demographic cycle begin childbearing earlier and return to work more quickly (holding schooling constant) than do women who were born during the downswing of the demographic cycle. These results imply that when responding to the demographic cycle, the cohort choice effect is more important than the opportunity cost effect.
Bibliography Citation
Falaris, Evangelos M. and H. Elizabeth Peters. "Responses of Female Labor Supply and Fertility to the Demographic Cycle." Research in Population Economics 8 (1996): 63-89.
2. Spitze, Glenna D.
Waite, Linda J.
Young Women's Preferences for Market Work: Responses to Marital Events
Research in Population Economics 3 (1981): 147-166
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: JAI Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Family Resources; First Birth; Marital Dissolution; Marriage; Motherhood; Work Attitudes; Work History

The authors examine how women's relative preferences for market work and home work are affected by first marriage, marital dissolution, and first birth. The findings show that first marriage decreases market work preferences through age 24 but not beyond that age. Marital dissolution tends to increase market work preferences for ages 19 through 29. Finally, first birth has no immediate impact; however, 1 to 2 years later there are significant upward revisions in market work preferences.
Bibliography Citation
Spitze, Glenna D. and Linda J. Waite. "Young Women's Preferences for Market Work: Responses to Marital Events." Research in Population Economics 3 (1981): 147-166.
3. Wolfe, Barbara L.
Childbearing and/or Labor Force Participation: the Education Connection
Research in Population Economics 2 (1980): 365-386
Cohort(s): Older Men
Publisher: JAI Press, Inc.
Keyword(s): Behavior; Childbearing; Education; Family Size; Fertility

The effect of more education for women on their fertility behavior is examined using data from the National Bureau of Economic Research - Thorndike-Hagen sample (NBER-TH) and a comparable group from the NLS. The NBER-TH data are longitudinal 25-year histories of 5,083 white males and their families. The effect of education on family size is analyzed through several distinct factors: contraceptive efficiency, age at marriage, tastes toward children and desired standard of living, opportunity cost, and efficiency in raising children. Investigation shows that a combination of the taste and efficiency factors has a positive, though nonlinear, relation to fertility. Opportunity cost has the expected negative relationship to family size. Since the opportunity cost factor has dominated other results, this raises questions concerning the true impact of increased women's wages on fertility.
Bibliography Citation
Wolfe, Barbara L. "Childbearing and/or Labor Force Participation: the Education Connection." Research in Population Economics 2 (1980): 365-386.