The Income–Fertility Relationship

Effect of the Net Price of a Child

Bibliographic Data

ID10971017
AuthorsMary O Borg (0000-0003-4423-9032, University of North Florida, corresponding author)
Year1989
Volume26
Issue2
Pages301-310
Publication date1989-05-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2061527
PMID2659402
OpenAlexW2071662087
LanguageEN
Citations received18
References cited13

This article examines the relationship between income and completed family size in empirical fertility models. The relationship, which is hypothesized to be positive, often is negative in empirical studies. This perverse result is thought to occur because of the many correlations between income and other factors that affect fertility. In this research, these other factors—such as the net price of a child, the opportunity cost of the wife’s time, and supply factors—are statistically controlled, and the income effect is positive and significant. When the net price of a child is not controlled, however, the income effect becomes negative and significant

Demographic economics · Economics · Fertility · Gross income · Net income · Net national income · Population · Public economics · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management

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