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Author: McKusick, David R.
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. McKusick, David R.
Economic Determinants of Child Spacing in Small U.S. Families
Ph.D. Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 1989
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: UMI - University Microfilms, Bell and Howell Information and Learning
Keyword(s): Behavior; Births, Repeat / Spacing; Childbearing; Family Income; Fertility; First Birth

This paper analyzes economic determinants of the length of the interval from marriage to first birth and from first to second birth among women in the United States between 1968 and 1980. The study is intended to test two economic models of birth spacing, one by Assaf Razin and a second by James Heckman and Robert Willis. Both are based on the new home economics approach to explaining fertility behavior. The positioning of births within the woman's childbearing years is seen as a function of current and expected family income, costs of childrearing and the couple's preference for children compared to other sources of gratification. The data set for this study is the Survey of Young Women, NLS. This survey follows a cohort of women aged 14-24 in 1968 from 1968 to 1980. The analyses use survival table techniques to allow for open birth intervals at the time of loss to followup or censoring by the end of the survey. The results support some of the predictions of the two models and fail to corroborate others. The results suggest that the effect of income on the timing of the first birth may be different from its effect on the second birth. Higher income by either the husband or the wife appears to delay the first birth but accelerate the second. [UMI ADG89-23723]
Bibliography Citation
McKusick, David R. Economic Determinants of Child Spacing in Small U.S. Families. Ph.D. Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University, 1989.