Ways in which childbearing affects women's employment: Evidence from the U.S. 1975 national fertility study

Abstract

The influence of fertility on the proportions working among white married women in the U.S. from 1970 to 1975 is analysed by using longitudinal data from the National Fertility Studies. The intention to have another child is found to have a negative effect independently of the impact of age of youngest child and parity. There is also evidence that childbearing fosters work, particularly at the extremes of the parity distribution. Further investigation of the interaction between the two activities reveals that whereas most childless women work and then have a birth, once childbearing is completed fewer women take advantage of the renewed opportunity to work.

The 1975 National Fertility Study was directed by N. B. Ryder and C. F. Westoff and was carried out under contract with the Center for Population Research of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The data were collected by the Institute for Survey Research, Temple University. The results presented here complement those reported by the same author in ‘The impact of women's employment on marital fertility in the U.S., 1970–1975’, Population Studies, 35, 2 (July 1981), pp. 160.

The 1975 National Fertility Study was directed by N. B. Ryder and C. F. Westoff and was carried out under contract with the Center for Population Research of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The data were collected by the Institute for Survey Research, Temple University. The results presented here complement those reported by the same author in ‘The impact of women's employment on marital fertility in the U.S., 1970–1975’, Population Studies, 35, 2 (July 1981), pp. 160.

Notes

The 1975 National Fertility Study was directed by N. B. Ryder and C. F. Westoff and was carried out under contract with the Center for Population Research of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The data were collected by the Institute for Survey Research, Temple University. The results presented here complement those reported by the same author in ‘The impact of women's employment on marital fertility in the U.S., 1970–1975’, Population Studies, 35, 2 (July 1981), pp. 160.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elise F. Jones

this research was carried out while she was at the Office of Population Research of Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and not of the UN or the ECE.