Why Do Women Wait? Matching, Wage Inequality, and the Incentives for Fertility Delay

B-Tier
Journal: Review of Economic Dynamics
Year: 2002
Volume: 5
Issue: 4
Pages: 815-855

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper explores the interaction between wage inequality and the marriage and fertility decisions of young women. We develop an equilibrium search model of marriage, divorce, and investment in children that allows for differential timing of fertility. We show how patterns of fertility timing in U.S. data can be explained by the incentives for fertility delay implied by marriage and labor markets. We find that these incentives help explain both the cross-sectional relationship between women's wages and fertility timing and the changes over the past 40 years in married women's fertility timing and labor supply. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:red:issued:v:5:y:2002:i:4:p:815-855
Journal Field
Macro
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25