An econometric analysis of the fertility and labor supply of unmarried women
Lehrer, E.; Nerlove, M.
Research in Population Economics 4: 217-235
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0163-7878 PMID: 12264902 Document Number: 398042
This article emphasizes the importance of dividing the life cycle into various stages for the analysis of female labor supply and fertility. It confirms the need for a multiperiod model for the case of unmarried women as well. The relationship between fertility and female employment varies across the life cycle stages; the pattern for postmarried women is similar to that of married women, but a completely different picture emerges for single women. It is also found that the impact of some exogenous variables on the labor supply of postmarried mothers changes over the life cycle, in the same direction as for married mothers. For the group of widowed, divorced, and separated women, the impact of female education on labor supply is much larger in the interval between marriage and 1st birth than in the subsequent stages. Also, although the former husband's income has no influence on the woman's market activity prior to the birth of the 1st child, it has a marked negative effect in the child rearing period. In the post child rearing stage, a variable that controls for other income sources, including alimony and child support, exerts a strong negative influence on female employment. Some differences in the fertility and labor supply behavior of married and unmarried women include: 1) the absence of husbands and their incomes in the case of unmarried women implies that such women face a relatively strong economic pressure to enter the labor market so that greater participation rates in the child rearing and post-child rearing stages occur; 2) whereas unmarried mothers are typically the sole earners in their households, they often qualify to receive other income such as welfare payments; 3) the labor supply of unmarried mothers is significantly affected by regional variations in the level of benefits; and 4) the family size of unmarried mothers is insensitive to being Catholic and having education.