Fluctuating Fertility
1. (25%)
Below are census data showing labor force participation of women in the U.S., overall and by age group, from the Censuses of 1950 to 2010.
Participation Rate (percent)
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Female Total (16+)
33.9
37.7
43.3
51.5
57.5
59.9
58.6
20 to 24 years
46.0
46.1
75.5
68.9
71.3
73.1
68.3
25 to 34 years
34.0
36.0
45.0
65.5
73.5
76.1
74.7
35 to 44 years
39.1
43.4
51.1
65.5
76.4
77.2
75.2
45 to 54 years
37.9
49.8
54.4
59.9
71.2
76.8
75.7
55 to 64 years
27.0
37.2
43.0
41.3
45.2
51.9
60.2
65 years and over
40.8
27.1
19.8
8.1
8.6
9.4
13.8
Graph two sets of labor force participation profiles for women aged 20-64, where age group is on the horizontal axis and labor force participation rates are the vertical axis. The first set of profiles should show the cross-sectional labor force participation rates for each census year (i.e., the data in each column, apart from the first and last entries, constitute the profile for a single census year) and the second set should show the profiles for different cohorts (i.e., moving along the diagonals). For this latter graph, you will need to figure out the cohorts; to this end, you may estimate the birth years of a cohort as equal to the census year minus the maximum age in the age group in question minus 1 as the beginning of the cohort and the census year minus the minimum age in the age group minus one as the end of the cohort. Thus, for example, those aged 25-34 in 1950 consisted of women born between 1915 and 1924 (this is not 100% accurate, but it is very close and will suffice for our purposes). Begin with the 1915-24 cohort (this means that you won’t have an observation for ages 20-24 for that cohort, and also that you won’t use the data for those aged 35-64 in 1950, 45-64 in 1960, and 55-64 in 1970, since they are all from earlier cohorts; all other data points for ages 20-64 should be used). For those aged 20-24,
Below are census data showing labor force participation of women in the U.S., overall and by age group, from the Censuses of 1950 to 2010.
Participation Rate (percent)
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Female Total (16+)
33.9
37.7
43.3
51.5
57.5
59.9
58.6
20 to 24 years
46.0
46.1
75.5
68.9
71.3
73.1
68.3
25 to 34 years
34.0
36.0
45.0
65.5
73.5
76.1
74.7
35 to 44 years
39.1
43.4
51.1
65.5
76.4
77.2
75.2
45 to 54 years
37.9
49.8
54.4
59.9
71.2
76.8
75.7
55 to 64 years
27.0
37.2
43.0
41.3
45.2
51.9
60.2
65 years and over
40.8
27.1
19.8
8.1
8.6
9.4
13.8
Graph two sets of labor force participation profiles for women aged 20-64, where age group is on the horizontal axis and labor force participation rates are the vertical axis. The first set of profiles should show the cross-sectional labor force participation rates for each census year (i.e., the data in each column, apart from the first and last entries, constitute the profile for a single census year) and the second set should show the profiles for different cohorts (i.e., moving along the diagonals). For this latter graph, you will need to figure out the cohorts; to this end, you may estimate the birth years of a cohort as equal to the census year minus the maximum age in the age group in question minus 1 as the beginning of the cohort and the census year minus the minimum age in the age group minus one as the end of the cohort. Thus, for example, those aged 25-34 in 1950 consisted of women born between 1915 and 1924 (this is not 100% accurate, but it is very close and will suffice for our purposes). Begin with the 1915-24 cohort (this means that you won’t have an observation for ages 20-24 for that cohort, and also that you won’t use the data for those aged 35-64 in 1950, 45-64 in 1960, and 55-64 in 1970, since they are all from earlier cohorts; all other data points for ages 20-64 should be used). For those aged 20-24,