Clash of Career and Family: Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement

Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, Andrea Weber and Emilia Del Bono

No 6719, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: In this paper we investigate how fertility decisions respond to unexpected career interruptions, which occur as a consequence of job displacement. Using an event study approach we compare the birth rates of displaced women with those of women unaffected by job loss after establishing the pre-displacement comparability of these groups. Our results reveal that job displacement reduces average fertility by 5 to 10% in both the short and medium term (3 and 6 years) and that these effects are largely explained by the response of white-collar women. Using an instrumental variable approach we provide evidence that the reduction in fertility is not due to the income loss generated by unemployment but arises because displaced workers undergo a career interruption. These results are interpreted in the light of a model in which the rate of human capital accumulation slows down after the birth of a child and all specific human capital is destroyed upon job loss.

Keywords: Fertility; Human capital; Plant closing; Unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J24 J64 J65 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP6719 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Journal Article: CLASH OF CAREER AND FAMILY: FERTILITY DECISIONS AFTER JOB DISPLACEMENT (2012)
Working Paper: Clash of Career and Family: Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement (2008)
Working Paper: Clash of Career and Family. Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement (2008)
Working Paper: Clash of Career and Family: Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement (2008)
Working Paper: Clash of Career and Family: Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement (2008)
Working Paper: Clash of Career and Family - Fertility Decisions after Job Displacement (2008)
Working Paper: Clash of career and family: fertility decisions after job displacement (2007)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6719

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP6719

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().