Fertility and the Labor Supply of Women

Neusser, K. (1983). Fertility and the Labor Supply of Women. IIASA Working Paper. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: WP-83-062

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Abstract

The relation between fertility and female labor supply has been extensively studied, theoretically as well as empirically, in the literature. But until now no consensus has emerged from these investigations. In this analysis the problem is addressed in an international context.

After a brief introduction which underlines the importance of this question in a macroeconomic framework, data on fertility and labor force participation are discussed for the IIASA countries. For the Western countries increasing consonance both in the trend as well as in the cycles can be observed for the fertility and labor supply behavior. The development of the corresponding data series for the Eastern countries are more heterogeneous. This can be interpreted, at least in the Western countries, as fertility and female labor supply being governed by identical factors. Since business cycles have shown an increasing consonance in the 1970s for the Western countries, it could be argued that the women's wage rate is the driving force behind fertility and labor supply development.

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