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Research note: What kind of individual-level effects of childbearing would we ideally be interested in learning about? The important distinction between expected, unexpected, varying and general effects

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  • Øystein Kravdal

    (University of Oslo
    Norwegian Institute of Public Health)

Abstract

Some consequences of childbearing for the parents and children are partly expected by the parents, while others to a larger extent are unexpected. Also, some are rather general while others vary greatly between individuals. In principle, it would be valuable for individual fertility decision-makers to learn about consequences of childbearing that they are currently not aware of. This can be achieved by disseminating existing expert knowledge about effects that are likely to be poorly known to the public, and by doing further research on effects of childbearing. Knowledge about effects that are rather general, such as those involving physiological mechanisms, would be particularly valuable. Other effects, which may be described as social–behavioural, are to a larger extent expected and varying, and are therefore both harder to estimate and less important for individual decision-makers to learn about. For politicians and planners, knowledge about all types of consequences may be helpful, and perhaps especially those that are rather general.

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  • Øystein Kravdal, 2019. "Research note: What kind of individual-level effects of childbearing would we ideally be interested in learning about? The important distinction between expected, unexpected, varying and general effec," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 1-12, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joprea:v:36:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s12546-018-9218-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12546-018-9218-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Øystein Kravdal, 2014. "The Estimation of Fertility Effects on Happiness: Even More Difficult than Usually Acknowledged," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 263-290, August.
    2. Mikko Myrskylä & Rachel Margolis, 2014. "Happiness: Before and After the Kids," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1843-1866, October.
    3. Heather Boushey, 2008. "“Opting out?” The effect of children on women's employment in the United States," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 1-36.
    4. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2005. "The More the Merrier? The Effect of Family Size and Birth Order on Children's Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 669-700.
    5. Christian N. Brinch & Magne Mogstad & Matthew Wiswall, 2017. "Beyond LATE with a Discrete Instrument," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(4), pages 985-1039.
    6. Kieron Barclay & Mikko Myrskylä, 2016. "Advanced Maternal Age and Offspring Outcomes: Reproductive Aging and Counterbalancing Period Trends," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 42(1), pages 69-94, March.
    7. Joshua Angrist & Victor Lavy & Analia Schlosser, 2010. "Multiple Experiments for the Causal Link between the Quantity and Quality of Children," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(4), pages 773-824, October.
    8. Arnstein Aassve & Stefano Mazzuco & Letizia Mencarini, 2006. "An empirical investigation into the effect of childbearing on economic wellbeing in Europe," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 15(2), pages 209-227, August.
    9. Grundy, Emily & Kravdal, Øystein, 2010. "Fertility history and cause-specific mortality: A register-based analysis of complete cohorts of Norwegian women and men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1847-1857, June.
    10. Mikko Myrskylä & Rachel Margolis, 2014. "Happiness - before and after the Kids," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 642, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
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    1. Øystein Kravdal, 2021. "Sex Differences in Childlessness in Norway: Identification of Underlying Demographic Drivers," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(4), pages 1023-1041, November.

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