Changes in the Fertility of Highly Skilled Women: Accounting for Heterogeneity in Preferences for Children

DongIk Kang and Youngjae Lee
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Youngjae Lee: Kyungpook National University

Review of Economic Dynamics, 2026, vol. 62

Abstract: Over the past four decades, the negative relationship between income and fertility in the United States has flattened. We document two additional patterns: fertility variation within income groups has increased, and the average preference for children among high income women has risen. We propose a novel channel through which heterogeneity in fertility preferences interacts with changes in the wage and price structures to reshape the income–fertility relationship as documented. To assess its quantitative importance, we develop an overlapping generations model with heterogeneity in productivity and fertility preferences, alongside existing mechanisms from the literature. The model reproduces the joint evolution of fertility rates, fertility variation, and fertility preferences, and shows that the proposed mechanism is important for changes in fertility behavior across the income distribution. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Keywords: Wage structure; Fertility rate; Fertility variation; Fertility preference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2026.101366

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