The relationship between earnings and first birth probability among Norwegian men and women 1994-2008
Year: 2014
Type: report
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: I analyze whether the correlation between yearly earnings and the first birth probabilities changed in the period 1994-2008 in Norway, applying discrete-time hazard regressions to highly accurate data from population registers. The results show that the correlation between earnings and fertility has become more positive over time for women but is virtually unchanged for men - rendering the correlation fairly similar across sex at the end of the period. Though the (potential) opportunity cost of fathering increases, there is no evidence of a weaker correlation between earnings and first birth probability for men. I suggest that decreasing opportunity costs of motherhood as well as strategic timing of fertility to reduce wage penalties of motherhood are both plausible explanations of the increasingly positive correlation among women.
Author: Rannveig V. Kaldager
Institution: Statistics Norway
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Norges Forskningsråd
Award: G1808478346
OpenAlex ID: W2160084307