The Effect of Fertility on Mothers’ Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries

Daniel Aaronson, Rajeev Dehejia, Andrew Jordan, Cristian Pop-Eleches, Cyrus Samii and Karl Schulze

No 23717, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using a compiled dataset of 441 censuses and surveys between 1787 and 2015, representing 103 countries and 48.4 million mothers, we find that: (1) the effect of fertility on labor supply is typically indistinguishable from zero at low levels of development and large and negative at higher levels of development; (2) the negative gradient is stable across historical and contemporary data; and (3) the results are robust to identification strategies, model specification, and data construction and scaling. Our results are consistent with changes in the sectoral and occupational structure of female jobs and a standard labor-leisure model.

JEL-codes: J13 J22 N30 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-his and nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Published as Daniel Aaronson & Rajeev Dehejia & Andrew Jordan & Cristian Pop-Eleches & Cyrus Samii & Karl Schulze, 2021. "The Effect of Fertility on Mothers’ Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries," The Economic Journal, vol 131(633), pages 1-32.

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Journal Article: The Effect of Fertility on Mothers’ Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries (2021)
Working Paper: The Effect of Fertility on Mothers’ Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries (2017)
Working Paper: The Effect of Fertility on Mothers' Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries (2017)
Working Paper: The Effect of Fertility on Mothers’ Labor Supply over the Last Two Centuries (2017)
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