• Table of Contents
    • Abstract
    • Keywords
    • Article
      • Decrease in fertility rates
      • Quantity and quality of children
      • Labour market participation and fertility
      • Family planning
      • Differences across countries
      • Changes in values and the ‘second demographic transition’
      • Future implications
    • See Also
    • Bibliography
    • How to cite this article

fertility in developed countries

Alicia Adsera
From The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Second Edition, 2008
Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume
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Abstract

After completing the first demographic transition, developed countries experienced a fertility boom in the post-Second World War period. However, after the 1960s fertility rates fell dramatically and now, in 2007, stand below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman in most of these countries. The entry of women into the workforce, economic development and changes in values and secularization are the causes of this demographic transformation.
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Keywords

capital intensity; child care; demographic transition; family planning; fertility in developed countries; household production; infant mortality; labour market institutions; labour supply; second demographic transition; unemployment; wage differentials; welfare state; women's work and wages
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Article

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How to cite this article

Adsera, Alicia. "fertility in developed countries." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. Palgrave Macmillan. 23 May 2013 <http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_F000289> doi:10.1057/9780230226203.0559

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