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Title: Economic Uncertainty and Fertility Cycles: The Case of the Post-WWII Baby Boom

Author(s): Bastien Chabé-Ferret and Paula Gobbi

Publication Date: December 2018

Keyword(s): baby boom, baby bust, economic uncertainty and Fertility

Programme Area(s): Macroeconomics and Growth

Abstract: Using the US Census waves 1940-1990 and Current Population Surveys 1990-2010, we look at how economic uncertainty affected fertility cycles over the course of the XXth century. We use cross-state and cross-cohort variation in the volatility of income growth to identify the causal link running from uncertainty to completed fertility. We find that economic uncertainty has a large and robust negative effect on fertility. This finding contributes to the unraveling of the determinants of the post-WWII baby boom. Specifically, the difference in economic uncertainty endured by women born in 1910 compared to that faced by women born in 1935 accounts for between 45% and 61% of the one child variation across these cohorts. We hypothesize that a greater economic uncertainty increases the risk of large consumption swings, which individuals mitigate by marrying later, postponing fertility, and ultimately decreasing their completed fertility.

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Bibliographic Reference

Chabé-Ferret, B and Gobbi, P. 2018. 'Economic Uncertainty and Fertility Cycles: The Case of the Post-WWII Baby Boom'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=13374