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Cited by 10,565Family Dynamics and RelationshipsGender, Labor, and Family DynamicsIntergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies

A Treatise on the Family

Becker, Gary S.·1991·Population and Development Review
DOI 10.4159/9780674020665
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Abstract

Preface to the Enlarged Edition Introduction 1. Single-Person Households 2. Division of Labor in Households and Families Supplement: Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor 3. Polygamy and Monogamy in Marriage Markets 4. Assortative Mating in Marriage Markets 5. The Demand for Children Supplement: A Reformulation of the Economic Theory of Fertility 6. Family Background and the Opportunities of Children 7. Inequality and Intergenerational Mobility Supplement: Human Capital and the Rise and Fall of Families 8. Altruism in the Family 9. Families in Nonhuman Species 10. Imperfect Information, Marriage, and Divorce 11. The Evolution of the Family Supplement: The Family and the State Bibliography Index

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  • Microeconomic theories suggest higher socioeconomic resources positively influence couples' childbearing, but men's resources have a more consistently positive effect.

    “Microeconomic theories of fertility suggest that higher levels of socioeconomic resources positively influence couples’ childbearing but that this influence is also gendered with men’s resources having a more consistently positive effect (Becker 1993).”

    From Education, Gender, and Cohort Fertility in the Nordic Countries (2019) · cites this paper as Becker 1993

  • People have more children when the costs of childrearing are lower.

    “people have more children when costs of childrearing are lower (Becker 1991; Hotz et al. 1997)”

    From Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature (2021) · cites this paper as Becker 1991

  • The number of children couples choose to have depends on their purchasing power, the time and money (including foregone income) expected to be needed for childrearing, and parents' preferences for spending that time and money on children rather than other purposes.

    “the number of children couples choose to have depends on their purchasing power, the time and money (including foregone income) expected to be needed for childrearing, and parents' preferences for spending that time and money on children rather than using it for other purposes (Becker 1991)”

    From Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature (2021) · cites this paper as Becker 1991

  • All studies on cash-transfer reforms are published in economics journals.

    “All studies on cash-transfer reforms, well-suited to test predictions from the”

    From Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature (2021) · cites this paper as Becker 1991

  • Becker's New Home Economics claims that children are desired but costly goods and that childbearing decisions are rational actions based on costs and benefits within the household production model.

    “Becker's New Home Economics (Becker 1960(Becker , 1991;;Cigno 1991) claims that children are desired but costly goods and that childbearing decisions are rational actions based on costs and benefits within the household production model.”

    From The educational gradient of childlessness and cohort parity progression in 14 low fertility countries (2014) · cites this paper as Becker 1991

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Authors
Becker, G. S.
Corresponding author
Becker, Gary S.
Venue
Population and Development Review
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Published
1991-12-31
Volume
18
Issue
3
Pages
563-563
ISSN
0098-7921 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.4159/9780674020665
OpenAlex
W2070415764
Cited by
10,565
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 191 · 2025: 214 · 2024: 154 · 2023: 145 · 2022: 129 · 2021: 251 · 2020: 278 · 2019: 335 · 2018: 317 · 2017: 327 · 2016: 389 · 2015: 475 · 2014: 530 · 2013: 462 · 2012: 494
FWCI
553.27
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Population and Development Review (publishedVersion)
  • Harvard University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
Keywords
household economy, division of household labor, gender division of labor, human capital, polygamy, monogamy, marriage market, assortative mating, fertility demand, family background, intergenerational mobility, evolution of the family, marriage, divorce, imperfect information, family and state

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