Female labor force participation and fertility: Some methodological and theoretical considerations

Abstract

A new approach to discovering a consistent relationship between female employment and fertility valid over different stages of economic development is proposed. A better understanding of the relationship will be gained by taking into account: (1) ecological and individual levels of analysis; (2) the life‐cycle aspects of fertility and labor force participation; (3) the matching of current and historical perspective on both work and fertility; (4) measures of fertility that provide information on both the number and the spacing of children, and (5) an approach to measuring labor force participation that emphasizes the utilization of labor.

Notes

Present address: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy.