The short- and long-term determinants of fertility in Uruguay

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Ferre, Zuleika, Triunfo, Patricia, Antón, José-Ignacio
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2023
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author Ferre, Zuleika
Triunfo, Patricia
Antón, José-Ignacio
author_facet Ferre, Zuleika
Triunfo, Patricia
Antón, José-Ignacio
contents This paper examines the determinants of fertility among women at different stages of their reproductive lives in Uruguay. To this end, we employ time series analysis methods based on data from 1968 to 2021 and panel data techniques based on department-level statistical information from 1984 to 2019. The results of our first econometric exercise indicate a cointegration relationship between fertility and economic performance, education and infant mortality, with differences observed by reproductive stage. We find a negative relationship between income and fertility for women aged 20-29 that persists for women aged 30 and over. This result suggests that having children is perceived as an opportunity cost for women in this age group. We also observe a negative relationship between education and adolescent fertility, which has implications for the design of public policies. A panel data analysis with econometric techniques allowing us to control for unobserved heterogeneity confirms that income is a relevant factor for all groups of women and reinforces the crucial role of education in reducing teenage fertility. We also identify a negative correlation between fertility and employment rates for women aged 30 and above. We outline some possible explanations for these findings in the context of work-life balance issues and argue for the importance of implementing social policies to address them.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2304_00539
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The short- and long-term determinants of fertility in Uruguay
Ferre, Zuleika
Triunfo, Patricia
Antón, José-Ignacio
General Economics
Economics
This paper examines the determinants of fertility among women at different stages of their reproductive lives in Uruguay. To this end, we employ time series analysis methods based on data from 1968 to 2021 and panel data techniques based on department-level statistical information from 1984 to 2019. The results of our first econometric exercise indicate a cointegration relationship between fertility and economic performance, education and infant mortality, with differences observed by reproductive stage. We find a negative relationship between income and fertility for women aged 20-29 that persists for women aged 30 and over. This result suggests that having children is perceived as an opportunity cost for women in this age group. We also observe a negative relationship between education and adolescent fertility, which has implications for the design of public policies. A panel data analysis with econometric techniques allowing us to control for unobserved heterogeneity confirms that income is a relevant factor for all groups of women and reinforces the crucial role of education in reducing teenage fertility. We also identify a negative correlation between fertility and employment rates for women aged 30 and above. We outline some possible explanations for these findings in the context of work-life balance issues and argue for the importance of implementing social policies to address them.
title The short- and long-term determinants of fertility in Uruguay
topic General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.00539