ECON 351 - fertitlity 4

Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

the average number of children a woman would give birth to during her lifetime if she lived through her childbearing years (typically ages 15 to 49) based on current birth trends. Typically 2.1.

Completed Cohort Fertility

Actually number of children women in a generation has (by the end of their reproductive years).

Replacement Rate

population replacement ammount (roughly 2.1 children per women needed. To replace poplation without immigeration

Quantum effect

The change in how many children women actually have

Tempo Effect

Change in when woman have children

Beckers two economic theories

Opportunity Cost of Women's Time - as women’s wages increase, the opportunity cost for women having children changes. (Higher wages —> fewer children)

Quantity-Quality trade off - Partners choose between having more children vs investing more time into each child.

Reverse relationship with fertility and countries

Countries with higher female employment generally had lower fertility
by 2000 it started to reverse and those countries
— Fertility tends to be higher when women can successfully combine employment and motherhood.

Main causes of lower fertility

1. expsinve costs for childcare

2. motherhood penalty -- mothers experience lasting earnings losses after childbearth unlike dads

3. unstable male security -- Unstable male earnings discourage marriage and delay starting a family

4. gender role mismatch -- women do paid work but still do most household activities

5. later relationships -- later relationships delay childbirth and also reduce the time available to have children

Policies to increase fertility?

affordable childcare

parental leave

fathers sharing more domestic responsibilites

social norms that support mothers more

more flexible employment arrangements

How to control births?

contraceptives (power of pill-reliable contracapitives allowed women to invest more in education and jobs)
infertility and assisted reproduction (some ppl face infertility and can get treatement for some constraints however its too expensive)
abortion (legal availability vs practicial availablitiy)

moral harzard (protection against a negative outcome changes behavoir. Eg; abortion becoming easier to access could make unintended preg as less costly thefore ppl taking fewer precaustions)

Abortion affecting births?

abortion restrictions increases births (particularly among economically disadvantaged groups)
women that denied wanting abortions experience greater financial difficulties

Why teen Births decline?

mainly opportunity costs and expectations
teens with greater educational and employment opportunites have much more too lose with early childbearing (attending uni and high paying career vs costs of a child)
someone with less opportunities will face a lower opp cost.

better access to contracapectives and better contraceptives

better information/sex education and social norms changing

also teen preg affect young women a lot more than fathers therefore policies that improve girls education/employment opportunties r a factor.