IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejapp/v13y2021i1p198-234.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Older Yet Fairer: How Extended Reproductive Time Horizons Reshaped Marriage Patterns in Israel

Author

Listed:
  • Naomi Gershoni
  • Corinne Low

Abstract

Israel's 1994 adoption of free in vitro fertilization (IVF) provides a natural experiment for how fertility time horizons impact women's marriage timing and other outcomes. We find a substantial increase in average age at first marriage following the policy change, using both men and Arab-Israeli women as comparison groups. This shift appears to be driven by both increased marriages by older women and younger women delaying marriage. Age at first birth also increased. Placebo and robustness checks help pinpoint IVF as the source of the change. Our findings suggest age-limited fertility materially impacts women's life timing and outcomes relative to men.

Suggested Citation

  • Naomi Gershoni & Corinne Low, 2021. "Older Yet Fairer: How Extended Reproductive Time Horizons Reshaped Marriage Patterns in Israel," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 198-234, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:13:y:2021:i:1:p:198-234
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20180780
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20180780
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E117001V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20180780.appx
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20180780.ds
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/app.20180780?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kasey Buckles, 2008. "Understanding the Returns to Delayed Childbearing for Working Women," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 403-407, May.
    2. Henrik Kleven & Camille Landais & Jakob Egholt Søgaard, 2019. "Children and Gender Inequality: Evidence from Denmark," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 181-209, October.
    3. Joelle Abramowitz, 2014. "Turning back the ticking clock: the effect of increased affordability of assisted reproductive technology on women’s marriage timing," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 603-633, April.
    4. Joanna N. Lahey, 2012. "The efficiency of a group‐specific mandated benefit revisited: The effect of infertility mandates," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 63-92, December.
    5. David S. Loughran & Julie M. Zissimopoulos, 2009. "Why Wait?: The Effect of Marriage and Childbearing on the Wages of Men and Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(2).
    6. M. Kate Bundorf & Melinda Henne & Laurence Baker, 2007. "Mandated Health Insurance Benefits and the Utilization and Outcomes of Infertility Treatments," NBER Working Papers 12820, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Amitabh Chandra & Jonathan Gruber & Robin McKnight, 2010. "Patient Cost-Sharing and Hospitalization Offsets in the Elderly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(1), pages 193-213, March.
    8. Sumit Agarwal & Souphala Chomsisengphet & Neale Mahoney & Johannes Stroebel, 2015. "Regulating Consumer Financial Products: Evidence from Credit Cards," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(1), pages 111-164.
    9. Sarah Kroeger & Giulia La Mattina, 2017. "Assisted reproductive technology and women’s choice to pursue professional careers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 723-769, July.
    10. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz, 2002. "The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(4), pages 730-770, August.
    11. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    12. Danziger, Leif & Neuman, Shoshana, 1999. "On the age at marriage: theory and evidence from Jews and Moslems in Israel," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 179-193, October.
    13. Skinner, Jonathan, 1985. "The Effect of Increased Longevity on Capital Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(5), pages 1143-1150, December.
    14. Petter Lundborg & Erik Plug & Astrid Würtz Rasmussen, 2017. "Can Women Have Children and a Career? IV Evidence from IVF Treatments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(6), pages 1611-1637, June.
    15. Ohinata, A., 2011. "Did the US Infertility Health Insurance Mandates Affect the Timing of First Birth?," Discussion Paper 2011-102, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Nikolay Angelov & Per Johansson & Erica Lindahl, 2016. "Parenthood and the Gender Gap in Pay," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(3), pages 545-579.
    17. Elizabeth Ty Wilde & Lily Batchelder & David T. Ellwood, 2010. "The Mommy Track Divides: The Impact of Childbearing on Wages of Women of Differing Skill Levels," NBER Working Papers 16582, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Seema Jayachandran & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2009. "Life Expectancy and Human Capital Investments: Evidence from Maternal Mortality Declines," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 349-397.
    19. W Hamish B Wallace & Thomas W Kelsey, 2010. "Human Ovarian Reserve from Conception to the Menopause," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(1), pages 1-9, January.
    20. Simonstein, Frida, 2010. "IVF policies with emphasis on Israeli practices," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(2-3), pages 202-208, October.
    21. Amalia Miller, 2011. "The effects of motherhood timing on career path," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 1071-1100, July.
    22. Caitlin Knowles Myers, 2017. "The Power of Abortion Policy: Reexamining the Effects of Young Women’s Access to Reproductive Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(6), pages 2178-2224.
    23. Ohinata, A., 2011. "Did the US Infertility Health Insurance Mandates Affect the Timing of First Birth?," Other publications TiSEM dd844a22-78ab-4f48-b1a0-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    24. Marianne Bitler & Lucie Schmidt, 2006. "Health disparities and infertility: impacts of state-level insurance mandates," Department of Economics Working Papers 2006-04, Department of Economics, Williams College, revised Nov 2006.
    25. Matilde Machado & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, 2015. "Coverage of infertility treatment and fertility outcomes," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 407-439, November.
    26. Barton H. Hamilton & Brian McManus, 2012. "The Effects Of Insurance Mandates On Choices And Outcomes In Infertility Treatment Markets," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(8), pages 994-1016, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Borra, Cristina & González, Libertad & Patiño, David, 2021. "Maternal Age and Infant Health," CINCH Working Paper Series (since 2020) 74847, Duisburg-Essen University Library, DuEPublico.
    2. Doepke, Matthias & Hannusch, Anne & Kindermann, Fabian & Tertilt, Michèle, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," IZA Discussion Papers 15224, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Zhang, Hanzhe & Zou, Ben, 2023. "A marriage-market perspective on risk-taking and career choices," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    4. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Singh, Prachi, 2023. "Information Campaign on Arsenic Poisoning: Unintended Consequences in Marriage Market," IZA Discussion Papers 16214, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Hazan, Moshe & Weiss, David & Zoabi, Hosny, 2023. "Highly educated women are no longer childless: The role of marketization," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    6. Ester Lazzari & Michaela Potančoková & Tomáš Sobotka & Edith Gray & Georgina M. Chambers, 2023. "Projecting the Contribution of Assisted Reproductive Technology to Completed Cohort Fertility," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(1), pages 1-22, February.
    7. Zhou, Xiaoyao & Ye, Jingjing & Li, Hao & Yu, Hongyan, 2022. "The rising child penalty in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gershoni, Naomi & Low, Corinne, 2021. "The power of time: The impact of free IVF on Women’s human capital investments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    2. Joelle Abramowitz, 2017. "Assisted Reproductive Technology and Women’s Timing of Marriage and Childbearing," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 100-117, March.
    3. Sarah Kroeger & Giulia La Mattina, 2017. "Assisted reproductive technology and women’s choice to pursue professional careers," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 723-769, July.
    4. Joelle Abramowitz, 2014. "Turning back the ticking clock: the effect of increased affordability of assisted reproductive technology on women’s marriage timing," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(2), pages 603-633, April.
    5. Sarah Kroeger & Giulia La Mattina, 2015. "Assisted Reproductive Technology and Women�s Choice to Pursue Professional Careers," Working Papers 0115, University of South Florida, Department of Economics.
    6. Nieto, Adrián, 2021. "Native-immigrant differences in the effect of children on the gender pay gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 654-680.
    7. Eunhye Kwak, 2022. "The emergence of the motherhood premium: recent trends in the motherhood wage gap across the wage distribution," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1323-1343, December.
    8. Landaud, Fanny, 2021. "From employment to engagement? Stable jobs, temporary jobs, and cohabiting relationships," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Matteo Picchio & Claudia Pigini & Stefano Staffolani & Alina Verashchagina, 2021. "If not now, when? The timing of childbirth and labor market outcomes," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(6), pages 663-685, September.
    10. Bütikofer, Aline & Jensen, Sissel & Salvanes, Kjell G., 2018. "The role of parenthood on the gender gap among top earners," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 103-123.
    11. Artmann, Elisabeth & Oosterbeek, Hessel & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2022. "Household specialization and the child penalty in the Netherlands," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    12. Matthias Doepke & Anne Hannusch & Fabian Kindermann & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," NBER Working Papers 29948, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Bhalotra, Sonia & Venkataramani, Atheendar & Walther, Selma, 2018. "Fertility and labor market responses to reductions in mortality," ISER Working Paper Series 2018-15, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    14. Sara Cools & Simen Markussen & Marte Strøm, 2017. "Children and Careers: How Family Size Affects Parents’ Labor Market Outcomes in the Long Run," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(5), pages 1773-1793, October.
    15. Wolfgang Keller & Hale Utar, 2022. "Globalization, Gender, and the Family [Trade Shocks and Labor Adjustment: A Structural Empirical Approach]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(6), pages 3381-3409.
    16. Moriguchi, Chiaki, 2012. "The Evolution of Child Adoption in the United States, 1950-2010—An Economic Analysis of Historical Trends—," Economic Review, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 63(3), pages 265-285, July.
    17. Simon Bensnes & Ingrid Huitfeldt & Edwin Leuven, 2023. "Reconciling estimates of the long-term earnings effect of fertility," Discussion Papers 1004, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    18. Matilde Machado & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano, 2015. "Coverage of infertility treatment and fertility outcomes," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 407-439, November.
    19. Inna Cintina & Bingxiao Wu, 2019. "How Do State Infertility Insurance Mandates Affect Divorce?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(3), pages 560-570, July.
    20. Danielle Sandler & Nichole Szembrot, 2019. "Maternal Labor Dynamics: Participation, Earnings, and Employer Changes," Working Papers 19-33, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Older Yet Fairer: How Extended Reproductive Time Horizons Reshaped Marriage Patterns in Israel (American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2021) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:13:y:2021:i:1:p:198-234. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.