Welfare state context, female earnings and childbearing

Gunnar Andersson, Michaela R. Kreyenfeld and Tatjana Mika
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Gunnar Andersson: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany
Michaela R. Kreyenfeld: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

No WP-2009-026, MPIDR Working Papers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

Abstract: This paper investigates the role of female earnings in childbearing decisions in two very different European contexts. By applying event history techniques to German and Danish register data during 1981-2001, we demonstrate how female earnings relate to first, second and third birth rates. Our study shows that female earnings are rather positively associated with fertility in Denmark, while the relationship is the opposite in West Germany. We interpret our findings based on our observation that Danish social policies tend to encourage Danish women to become established in the labor market before having children, while German policies during the 1980s and 1990s were not designed to encourage maternal employment.

Keywords: Denmark; fertility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 Z0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2009
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap, nep-lab and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-026

DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2009-026

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