IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/anr/reveco/v17y2025p695-720.html

The Economics of Childbearing: Trends, Progress, and Challenges

Author

Listed:
  • Martha J. Bailey

    (Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
    National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)

Abstract

The neoclassical economics of childbearing turns 65 this year, marking the anniversary of Gary Becker's foundational article on the subject in 1960. This review article begins with a study of how childbearing has evolved in the United States over the last century, identifying distinctive features of the post-1960 era associated with the second demographic transition. Next, the article discusses standard neoclassical models of childbearing and shows how augmenting them with a supply side, including access to and information about contraception and abortion, increases their explanatory power. After reviewing recent quasi-experimental research testing this augmented model, the final part of the article reflects upon the implications of the recent transformation in US fertility rates for women and children and suggests fruitful avenues for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Martha J. Bailey, 2025. "The Economics of Childbearing: Trends, Progress, and Challenges," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 17(1), pages 695-720, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:reveco:v:17:y:2025:p:695-720
    DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-092024-021806
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-092024-021806
    Download Restriction: Full text downloads are only available to subscribers. Visit the abstract page for more information.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1146/annurev-economics-092024-021806?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

    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:anr:reveco:v:17:y:2025:p:695-720. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: http://www.annualreviews.org (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.annualreviews.org .

    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.