Maternal Health and the Baby Boom

Stefania Albanesi and Claudia Olivetti

No 2013-003, Working Papers from Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group

Abstract: U.S. fertility rose from a low of 2.27 children for women born in 1908 to a peak of 3.21 children for women born in 1932. It dropped to a new low of 1.74 children for women born in 1949, before stabilizing for subsequent cohorts. We propose a novel explanation for this boom-bust pattern, linking it to the huge improvements in maternal health that started in the mid 1930s. Our hypothesis is that the improvements in maternal health contributed to the mid-twentieth century baby boom and generated a rise in women's human capital, ultimately leading to a decline in desired fertility for subsequent cohorts. To examine this link empirically, we exploit the large cross-state variation in the magnitude of the decline in pregnancy-related mortality and the differential exposure by cohort. We find that the decline in maternal mortality is associated with a rise in fertility for women born between 1921 and 1940, with a rise in college and high school graduation rates for women born in 1933-1950 relative to previous cohorts, and with a decline in fertility for women born in 1941-1950 relative to those born in 1921-1940. The analysis provides new insights on the determinants of fertility in the U.S. and other countries that experienced similar improvements in maternal health.

Keywords: Maternal mortality; Fertility choice; Baby boom; human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J11 J13 N12 N3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-evo, nep-hea and nep-his
Note: FI
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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http://humcap.uchicago.edu/RePEc/hka/wpaper/Albane ... health-baby-boom.pdf First version, May, 2013 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Maternal health and the baby boom (2014)
Working Paper: Maternal Health and the Baby Boom (2010)
Working Paper: Maternal Health and the Baby Boom (2010)
Working Paper: Maternal Health and the Baby Boom (2010)
Working Paper: Maternal Health and the Baby Boom (2010)
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