Women's wages and childbearing decisions: Evidence from Italy

Abstract

During the early 1990s, Italy became one of the first countries to reach lowest-low fertility. This was also a period in which women's education and labour force participation increased. We analyze the role of women's (potential) wages on their fertility decisions by making use of two different surveys. This enables us to apply discrete-time duration models. For first births, we find evidence of non-proportional hazards and of some "recuperation" effects; for second and third births, instead, wage exhibits small intensity although there is a clear division between Northern and Southern Italian regions.

Keywords

• childbearing decisions
• discrete time duration models
• lowest-low fertility