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Journal Article
Declining Birth Rates in the US: It's Not Only about Preferences
Using the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), this paper explores reasons behind the falling birth rate in the United States. The analysis confirms that newer generations of women are less likely to have any children than generations that came before. Comparing outcomes among women at the same age, we identify two reasons for this decline: (1) a dramatic decrease in the desire to have children, but only among the youngest generation in the sample (Gen Z), and (2) an increase in the medical difficulty of having children among all women since the Boomer generation. We discuss potential ...
Journal Article
Will Wage Growth Alone Get Workers Back Into the Labor Market? Not Likely.
This article finds that compared to baby boomers of the same age, millennials' labor force participation decisions are only about three-quarters as responsive to wage changes, and Generation X's participation decisions are only about half as responsive. These differences are not good news for employers trying to coax workers back into the labor market during a robust pandemic recovery. Using the most recent estimates, from 2019 data, the latest 6 percent year-over-year increase in average hourly pay reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is expected to only close 16 percent of ...
Assets and Debt across Generations
This analysis examines the household wealth that baby boomers, Gen Xers and millennials each held at age 30, comparing these generations’ assets, debt and net worth.