Aging & Social Change: Thirteenth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The cross-sectional association between female employment and fertility in developed countries shifted from negative to positive during the 1980s. Ever since researchers have applied different statistical approaches, to understand the nature of this relationship, often with opposite conclusions. Therefore, the present study estimates the relation by the fresh statistical approach and the latest data for 32 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Specifically, the paper implemented the multilevel mixed-effect method, thereby expanding the analysis beyond the limitations of models implemented in the previous studies. Eventually, the results of the selected statistical approach verified the persistence of negative signs in a time-series association between fertility and female employment for the most recent period (2010-2020), while the positive sign of cross-country association still persists. Given the bi-directional relationship between fertility rate and female labour participation, it is problematic to draw firm causal inferences. Nevertheless, it is evident that the change in the participation rate and a change in the fertility rate are interrelated.