Why are fertility and participation rates so low in Italy (and Southern Europe)

Abstract

Introduction Over the last decades labour market participation of women increased, while fertility declined in most advanced countries. This pattern is consistent with microeconomic predictions: economic models of fertility behaviour predict in fact that an increase in women’s schooling levels and wage rates leads to an increase in their labour supply and to a reduction in fertility. The existence of an inverse relationship between fertility and participation was theoretically established by Becker and Lewis (1973) and Willis (1973) and empirically documented by Butz and Ward (1979) for the U.S. and Mincer (1985) on a cross-country basis. Table 1. Fertility Rates and Female Participation rates in selected countries Country Fertility rates Participation rates 1977 200