Thesis Format
Integrated Article
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Program
Economics
Supervisor
Caucutt, Elizabeth M.
Abstract
This thesis studies decisions the family makes regarding household unions, fertility, and child investment. Chapter 2 studies the educational gradient in non-marital fertility and posits that cohabitation is a driver behind the gradient. I build a lifecycle model of fertility and household union choices, featuring a trade-off between quality and quantity of children. Using the model calibrated to the U.S. data, I study implications of introducing common-law marriage, where cohabiting parents are considered to be married couples. I find that the policy leads fewer people to choose cohabitation, and more children are born to married parents. As a result, children receive 20\% more parental investment during their childhood compared to the case without the policy.
Chapter 3 studies the trend of household unions. I posit that the trend of delaying marriage arises from a substitution toward cohabitation. I build a bilateral household union decision model that includes cohabitation and marriage as unions. Using the model, I study implications of increasing income uncertainty and closing the gender earnings gap on the trend. I find that increasing income volatility alone can account for the majority of changes in household unions. The result also highlights the importance of considering cohabitation separately from marriage, which is not common in the literature.
In Chapter 4, I study the educational gradients in mothers' time allocation. According to the American Time Use Survey, mothers with higher education spend more time on childcare compared to mothers with lower education. Despite the growing evidence of the significance of parental time on child development, few studies attempt to understand the observed gradients in time allocation. I examine conditions that generate the gradient in a standard time allocation model. I find that the productivity of time input on children and the substitutability of time and goods inputs are the two parameters that determine the gradient in childcare time.
Summary for Lay Audience
This thesis studies decisions the family makes regarding household unions, fertility, and child investment. In Chapter 2, I document that less-educated women are more likely to have their children outside marriage than more-educated women. I find that cohabitation is a driver behind this pattern. I develop an economic model of fertility and household union choices and use the model to study implications of introducing common-law marriage, where cohabiting parents are considered to be married couples. I find that the policy leads fewer people to choose cohabitation, and more children are born to married parents. As a result, children receive 20\% more parental investment during their childhood compared to the case without the policy.
Chapter 3 studies the trend of delaying marriages. I posit that this trend arises from a substitution toward cohabitation. In the labor market, income uncertainty has been increasing, and the gender earnings gap has been closing over time. Using an economic model, I find that increasing income uncertainty is the major cause of the changes in household unions, and the gender gap plays little role.
In Chapter 4, I study the different patterns of mothers' activities by their education level. According to the American Time Use Survey, mothers with higher education spend more time on childcare than mothers with lower education. Despite the growing evidence of the significance of parental time on child development, few studies attempt to understand the observed differences in time allocation. The model suggests that the observed differences can arise if more-educated mothers' time is more valuable to their children's development than less-educated mother's time. Using the model, I study the costs and implications of different policies supporting mothers' childcare.
Recommended Citation
Jin, Hyeongsuk, "Essays on Family Economics" (2020). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 7150.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/7150
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