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Did Improvements in Household Technology Cause the Baby Boom? Evidence from Electrification, Appliance Diffusion, and the Amish

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Author Info
Martha J. Bailey
William J. Collins

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Abstract

More than a half century after its peak, the baby boom's causes remain a puzzle. A novel argument posits that rapid changes in household technology from 1940 to 1960 account for this large increase in fertility. We present new empirical evidence that is inconsistent with this claim. Rapid advances in household technology began long before 1940 while fertility declined, and differences and changes in appliance ownership and electrification in U.S. counties are negatively correlated with fertility rates from 1940 to 1960. Finally, the Amish, a group strictly limiting the use of modern technologies, experienced a coincident and sizable baby boom.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 14641.

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Date of creation: Jan 2009
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14641

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E0 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General
J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth

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  1. W. Michael Cox & Richard Alm, 1997. "Time well spent; the declining real cost of living in America," Annual Report, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, pages 2-24. [Downloadable!]
  2. Valerie Ramey, 2006. "A Century of Work and Leisure," Working Papers id:546, esocialsciences.com. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Jeremy Greenwood & Ananth Seshadri & Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2005. "The Baby Boom and Baby Bust," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 183-207, March. [Downloadable!]
  4. Fernández, Raquel, 2007. "Women, Work and Culture," CEPR Discussion Papers 6153, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Martha J. Bailey & William J. Collins, 2004. "The Wage Gains of African-American Women in the 1940s," NBER Working Papers 10621, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Valerie A. Ramey, 2008. "Time Spent in Home Production in the 20th Century: New Estimates from Old Data," NBER Working Papers 13985, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Becker, Gary S & Lewis, H Gregg, 1973. "On the Interaction between the Quantity and Quality of Children," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(2), pages S279-88, Part II, . [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Gary S. Becker & James S. Duesenberry & Bernard Okun, 1960. "An Economic Analysis of Fertility," NBER Chapters, in: Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries, pages 225-256 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
  9. Doepke, Matthias & Hazan, Moshe & Maoz, Yishay D, 2008. "The Baby Boom and World War II: A Macroeconomic Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 6628, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Raquel Fernandez, 2007. "Women, Work, and Culture," NBER Working Papers 12888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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