Nonmarital and Teen Fertility

This chapter explores trends, causes, and consequences of nonmarital and teen fertility in the United States and in selected European countries. First, the chapter describes some key factors, including changes in economic institutions and family planning technologies, that likely contribute to the large changes in patterns of marriage and fertility observed in developed countries in recent decades. Second, it indicates that substantial empirical hurdles to credibly estimating the impacts of nonmarital and teen fertility on adults’ and children’s outcomes remain, though recent evidence suggests more modest impacts than early evidence. Finally, it explores new directions in this research area, arguing that the conventional comparison between nonmarital and marital births should be revised to incorporate more adequately the rapidly growing number of births to cohabiting partners. Additional directions include continuing analysis of the dynamic impacts of the Great Recession and an integration of biological considerations into the economic analysis of fertility.

Maternal Socioeconomic Status and the Well-Being of the Next Generation(s)

A rich literature in economics and the other social sciences has shown that improvements in women’s socioeconomic status (SES) can also improve the well-being of their children. This chapter identifies several channels for this effect, drawing on both theoretical and empirical work in economics. Empirical evidence on the effects of maternal SES on child outcomes like health, education, and labor market success is presented, with a focus on recent work using new datasets and methodological innovations that allow for credible identification. The chapter also discusses emerging evidence that shocks to maternal well-being can affect not only a woman’s own children but also future generations. Finally, the chapter highlights several fertile areas for future work.

Women’s Homelessness

This chapter reviews international evidence regarding women’s homelessness. It discusses different definitions of homelessness and how women are frequently part of the “hidden homeless” population and less a part of the unsheltered homeless population. It also considers the data that are used to enumerate and study homeless people. The structural, personal, and random causes of homelessness are discussed, with evidence pointing to highly gendered patterns. The chapter also describes the consequences of women’s homelessness, including the consequences for children, and the material and psychological coping strategies that homeless people employ. It considers policies to reduce homelessness and ameliorate its problems.

Women and Migration

While scholars have long studied the economics of migration, increasing waves of international and regional migration around the world have placed greater focus on the varied impacts of migration in recent years. Critical to this line of research is an examination of the important role that women play in both sending and destination areas. This chapter addresses various aspects of the relationship between women and migration, including key ways in which nonmigrant women are affected by migration, as well as how female migrants affect families and labor markets in both source and destination communities. Selection factors and determinants of female migration, as well as the gendered impacts of migrant networks, are also discussed.

Introduction

The transformation of women’s lives in the past century is among the most significant and far-reaching social and economic phenomena, affecting not only women but also their partners and children. In developed and developing countries alike, women are acquiring more education, marrying later, having fewer children, and spending a far greater fraction of their adult lives in the labor force. This Handbook provides the first comprehensive collection of essays that addresses these issues, using the powerful framework of economics. The Introduction offers an overview of the field. It outlines its intellectual foundations and then reviews the many ways in which research into women’s issues expanded and strengthened research methods and practices throughout economics. It then provides an overview of the thirty-one chapters in the Handbook. It concludes with thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature and about the further development of the field.

Fertility Policy in Developed Countries

This article examines how direct and indirect pronatalist policies implemented in many developed countries to promote childbearing affect fertility. More specifically, it reviews the extant empirical literature on direct subsidies, family leave, child care, publically provided health insurance, and tax policy. Before evaluating the evidence in these five areas, the article first considers the theoretical association between pronatalist policies and fertility, as well as the common empirical methods utilized in this literature. It then summarizes some of the major findings on child subsidies, family leave policies, child care cost and availability, public health insurance, and tax incentives. Finally, it highlights several gaps that need to be addressed in future research.

Women, Work, and Family

This chapter focuses on women, work, and family, with a particular focus on differences by educational attainment. First, we review long-term trends regarding family structure, participation in the labor market, and time spent in household production, including time with children. In looking at family, we focus on mothers with children. Next we examine key challenges faced by mothers as they seek to combine motherhood and paid work: workforce interruptions associated with childbearing, the impact of home and family responsibilities, and constraints posed by workplace culture. We also consider the role that gendered norms play in shaping outcomes for mothers. We conclude by discussing policies that have the potential to increase gender equality in the workplace and mitigate the considerable conflicts faced by many women as they seek to balance work and family.

The Gender Wage Gap in Developed Countries

Despite the increased attachment of women to the labor force in nearly all developed countries, a stubborn gender pay gap remains. This chapter provides a review of the economics literature on the gender wage gap, with an emphasis on developed countries. We begin with an overview of the trends in the gender differences in wages and employment rates. We then review methods used to decompose the gender wage gap and the results from such decompositions. We discuss how trends and differences in the gender wage gap across countries can be understood in light of nonrandom selection and human capital differences. We then review the evidence on demand-side factors used to explain the existing gender wage gap and then discuss occupational segregation. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further research.

Marital Instability in the United States

This chapter surveys some of the main strands in the recent US literature on the economics of divorce. We discuss changes over time in the divorce rate, the widening gap in marital instability by socioeconomic status, and the increase in “gray divorce.” We review the role of age at entry into first marriage and how it differs by race/ethnicity. Compared to other developed economies, the divorce rate in the United States is exceptionally high. We offer possible explanations including the roles of theologically conservative religions and the high levels of both income inequality and teen fertility in the United States We review the effects of divorce reforms and the role of barriers to economic self-sufficiency. Finally, we discuss the effects of divorce on children’s well-being and the role of child support policies.

Fertility Issues and Policy in Developing Countries

Fertility in most developing countries has declined substantially and is in many places now close to replacement level. Despite the large reductions, there are still important outstanding questions when it comes to fertility in developing countries. This chapter examines four of those questions. First, why has Sub-Saharan Africa not seen reductions in fertility as large as other developing countries? Second, what factors determine the timing of fertility, especially for first births, and how is timing related to schooling and labor market outcomes? Third, what is the role of bargaining power when determining fertility? Finally, how do sex preferences affect fertility outcomes? In addition, I discuss the literature on the effectiveness of population policies on both fertility and outcomes such as health and schooling.