Working Women, Men's Home Time and Lowest Low Fertility

Abstract:     
Contrary to the predictions of Economic Theory, Southern Europe's rapid fertility decline has resulted in a positive cross-country correlation between female labor force participation and fertility. We develop a model with heterogeneity in attitudes towards women's home time and a social externality associated to men's home production to explain (1) this positive correlation and (2) its intertemporal reversal. Implications of the theory are tested using the multi-country ISSP94 household survey. We find that, within countries, less egalitarian attitudes increase fertility, but lower female labor force participation. However, consistent with our theory, countries with less egalitarian views have lower average fertility.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 57

Keywords: Externalities, Household Production, Fertility, Attitudes

JEL Classification: D13, J0, J1, J2, Z13

working papers series