Fertility and Family Type in the United States: a Historical Analysis

Luca Pensieroso, Alessandro Sommacal and Gaia Spolverini
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Gaia Spolverini: UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

No 2024006, LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES from Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)

Abstract: We provide a historical decomposition of fertility in the United States by family type. We find that intergenerational coresidence was systematically associated with lower fertility than nuclear families, with the difference shrinking over time. This pattern is robust to controlling for several demographic and socioeconomic confounders. We build a simple, analytical model and show that a theory featuring both endogenous fertility and endogenous coresidence can rationalise the observed cross-family fertility difference. Simulations from a calibrated dynamic general equilibrium version of the model show that the model has the right qualitative behaviour, and is quantitatively meaningful. Using individual data, we discuss (and dismiss) several potential alternative explanations.

Pages: 89
Date: 2024-05-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-dge, nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-his
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvir:2024006

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