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Title: Work and Fertility: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Labor Force Participation and Premarital Fertility
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Kraft, Joan Marie |
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Work and Fertility: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Labor Force Participation and Premarital Fertility Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University, 1989 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning Keyword(s): Abortion; Behavior; Childbearing, Premarital/Nonmarital; Contraception; Fertility; Labor Force Participation; Marital Status; Maternal Employment; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Sexual Behavior; Wages; Women This dissertation attempts to add to our knowledge of the causes of premarital fertility behavior--sexual activity, use of birth control, pregnancy, abortion, and marital status at time of birth. Current research pays attention to the roles played by aspirations, social-psychological variables, and community norms in fertility behavior. The approach of this paper differs in its emphasis upon labor force participation and the quality of worklife. The argument is implicit in the literature's concern with why young women "risk the future" by engaging in premarital intercourse that may result in conception. Premarital motherhood can disrupt a woman's life, making it difficult to maintain a current standard of living or attain future goals. The central hypothesis of the dissertation is that young women who work, especially those working in full-time jobs with high wages and high occupational status, will be less likely than other women to engage in potentially risky premarital fertility behaviors. Monthly data on fertility behavior and labor force participation are drawn from the NLSY and cover a span of seven years (1978 through 1984). Event history and logistic regression models suggest that workers are more likely than non-workers to be sexually active, to use birth control, to get abortions, and to marry prior to birth. Workers are less likely than non-workers to become premaritally pregnant. A comparison of workers and non-workers thus supports the opportunity cost argument. Models that include occupational status, wages, and hours worked indicate that the opportunity cost argument has some merit in the prediction of pregnancy and the use of birth control. |
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Bibliography Citation
Kraft, Joan Marie. Work and Fertility: An Exploration of the Relationship Between Labor Force Participation and Premarital Fertility. Ph.D. Dissertation, Northwestern University, 1989. |