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Title: Birth Spacing and Maternal Involvement in the US: Employment, Breastfeeding and the Timing of Second Births
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Clarkberg, Marin |
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Birth Spacing and Maternal Involvement in the US: Employment, Breastfeeding and the Timing of Second Births Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Meetings, March 25-27, 1999 Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Publisher: Population Association of America Keyword(s): Births, Repeat / Spacing; Breastfeeding; Employment; Fertility; Maternal Employment; Modeling, Hazard/Event History/Survival/Duration Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Women's employment and fertility behaviors have important links, and it is clear the women's employment delays the onset of fertility and reduces total fertility. This study examines the association between women's employment and another aspect of fertility behaviors: birth spacing. Additionally, I consider the potential effects of breastfeeding and the relationship it may have with employment in influencing birth spacing. I use data from 4,402 first time mothers in the NLS-Y in proportional hazards event history models, with employment after the first birth measured as a time-varying variable. The results indicate that once controls are entered into the model, employment slows the timing of second births among bottle-feeding mothers only. Further, breastfeeding is significantly associated with closer birth spacing. This positive effect of breastfeeding on the hazard of second birth is strong among mothers who breastfeed. These results suggest that breastfeeding mothers may be a select group. For example, they may be highly "baby oriented." Yet, controls for ideal family size and sex role ideology do not attenuate breastfeeding's effect on birth spacing. Alternatively, it may be that women who find themselves able to breastfeed and return to work post-partum may have more resources--at home, at work and/or within themselves--which enable them to proceed to a subsequent pregnancy more swiftly. |
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Bibliography Citation
Clarkberg, Marin. "Birth Spacing and Maternal Involvement in the US: Employment, Breastfeeding and the Timing of Second Births." Presented: New York, NY, Population Association of America Meetings, March 25-27, 1999. |