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Birth, Fortune, and Discrepant Fertility in Twentieth-CenturyAmerica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Amon Emeka
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Abstract

Twentieth-century American men and women were often unable to live up to or downto their own fertility ideals. In a national random sample of 11,126ever-married men and women over the age of 44, “discrepantfertility”—the difference between ideal fertility and completedfertility—was common. This article seeks to identify the causes of suchdiscrepancies, and findings suggest that the most important exogenous factor is“birth cohort.” Those born prior to or after the Great Depressionwere prone to exhibit negative discrepant fertility, having had fewer childrenthan they thought ideal, while those born during the Depression—theparents of the baby boom—were characterized by significant positivediscrepant fertility, having had more children than they thought ideal. It isargued that these cohort effects are closely related to social and economicconditions that prevailed as twentieth-century Americans came of age andassessed their professional and familial prospects.

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Social Science History , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , Fall 2006 , pp. 327 - 357
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Copyright © Social Science History Association 2006 

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