Human Capital and the Timing of the First Birth

Jesse Naidoo ()
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Jesse Naidoo: Department of Economics, University of Pretoria

No 202148, Working Papers from University of Pretoria, Department of Economics

Abstract: I construct and partially characterize the solution of a life-cycle model of fertility choice and human capital accumulation. Because children take time to raise, women face a trade-off between between lifetime earnings and childbearing. The model implies that (i) earnings must drop discontinuously at the time of a birth; (ii) age at first birth and human capital will be positively correlated; and (iii) a permanently higher demand for skill causes women to delay first births. I show that the second of these predictions holds in a sample of South African women drawn from the first wave of the National Income Dynamics Study.

Keywords: fertility; human capital; life-cycle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J17 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dge
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