Fertility and Female Occupational Choice

摘要

The study hypothesizes that a working woman selects her occupation, defined as a vector of characteristics, in accordance with her life cycle fertility and labor force participation. It focuses on two characteristics in particular: the occupational atrophy rate (the depreciation in human capital resulting from intermittent labor force participation) and the flexibility of hours within an occupation. Through the use of a multiperiod utility maximization model and comparative statics analysis, the project investigates the qualitative effect of an exogenous change in family size on the woman's choice of her occupational characteristics. In general, the empirical analysis, which uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women, supports the theoretical hypothesis; as family size increases, women tend to select occupations with lower atrophy rates and more flexible hours.