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Title: The Consequences of Age at First Childbirth: Labor Force Participation and Earnings
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Hofferth, Sandra L.
Moore, Kristin Anderson
Caldwell, Steven B.
The Consequences of Age at First Childbirth: Labor Force Participation and Earnings
Final Report, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1978
Cohort(s): Young Women
Publisher: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Career Patterns; Childbearing; Earnings; Employment; Family Influences; Fertility; Income Dynamics/Shocks; Teenagers; Work Experience

The impact of a woman's age at the birth of her first child on labor force participation and earnings was assessed using two national longitudinal data sets. Information on women aged 22 to 52 in 1976, both wives and female heads, was obtained from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) interviews, which were conducted between 1968 and 1976. A first birth during the teen years does not directly affect whether a woman is working years later, her accumulated work experience, or the occupational status, hours of work, hourly wages, and annual earnings of working women, when other factors are controlled. However, since early childbearing affects schooling and fertility, it has an indirect impact on labor force participation and earnings. For example, teenage childbearers have larger families and consequently accumulate less work experience and earn less per hour net of other factors.
Bibliography Citation
Hofferth, Sandra L., Kristin Anderson Moore and Steven B. Caldwell. "The Consequences of Age at First Childbirth: Labor Force Participation and Earnings." Final Report, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 1978.