Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/106194 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 719
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
We study the short- to medium-run effects of starting a career on a fixed-term contract on subsequent fertility outcomes. We focus on the career start since we expect that temporary contracts and their inherent economic uncertainty imply a path dependency which might have spill-over effects on other domains of life. Our empirical analysis is based on rich data from the German Socio-Economic Panel which provides comprehensive information about individuals' labour market history as well as fertility behaviour. Our main results are: Women (i) tend to postpone their first birth due to fixed-term employment at labour market entry and (ii) reduce the number of children in the first 10 years after graduation. These associations are strongest in the subsample of native women with at least vocational training. (iii) In contrast, we find no significant correlations for men. We argue that these findings are robust to potential endogeneity threats.
Subjects: 
career start
fixed-term employment
postponement of maternity
fertility
economic uncertainty
JEL: 
J13
J18
J41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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