Labor force

Developments in economic theory over the last 20 years have placed decisions regarding female labor force participation (FLFP) and fertility within a model of household decision making (HDM). In this one period, static model utility is a function of child services (including both number and quality of children), market goods and services, and leisure. At the outset of their marriage a husband and wife adopt a utility-maximizing lifetime plan of fertility, market work, nonmarket activities, and consumption of goods and services, subject to income and time constraints.