Sex Differences in the Effects of Personal Resources, Family Resources, and Multiple Partners on Fertility

This paper examines the association of personal and family income and wealth on completed fertility and number of child bearing unions for men and women using newly released data from 2014 wave of the Survey of Income and Program Participation by the U.S. Census that contain the first national measures of complete male and female fertility as well as measures of multi-partner fertility. Results show that personal income and net worth are positively associated with total fertility and number of child bearing unions for men and negatively associated with total fertility and number of child bearing unions for women. Family income is negatively associated with fertility and number of child bearing unions for men and positively associated with total fertility for women. These results suggest that the source of income and wealth (either from the individual him or herself or from the individual’s family) influences the fertility of men and women very differently and conform to evolutionary predictions concerning the role of male and female status in fertility behavior.