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  3. Journal of Economic Literature
  4. December 2017
  5. Family Economics Writ Large

Family Economics Writ Large

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Abstract

Powerful currents have reshaped the structure of families over the last century. There has been (1) a dramatic drop in fertility and greater parental investment in children; (2) a rise in married female labor-force participation; (3) a significant decline in marriage; (4) a higher degree of positive assortative mating; (5) more children living with a single mother; and (6) shifts in social norms governing premarital sex and married women's roles in the workplace. Macroeconomic models explaining these aggregate trends are surveyed. The relentless flow of technological progress and its role in shaping family life are stressed.

Citation

Greenwood, Jeremy, Nezih Guner, and Guillaume Vandenbroucke. 2017. "Family Economics Writ Large." Journal of Economic Literature, 55 (4): 1346-1434. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20161287

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
  • J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
  • J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
  • O33 Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification