'An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing'

18/07/13

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qlwRG3WP4dsC&pg=PA119&lpg=PA119&dq=George+Akerlof,+Janet+Yellen+and+Michael+Katz&source=bl&ots=JVITh0I0HV&sig=eFiFeBG4NE2mSOs_Lc8WnsrSEAw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=V1D5UY5C88vQBY2RgYAL&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=George%20Akerlof%2C%20Janet%20Yellen%20and%20Michael%20Katz&f=false

The above link is to an economics essay entitled 'An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States' by George Akerlof, Janet Yellen and Micheal Katz. It was published in the 1996 Quarterly Journal of Economics and examines the link between  the availability of female contraceptives and shot-gun marriages. Their principle theory being that readily available abortions and female contraceptives meant that the female position in the marriage market was weakened. Below are my notes:

This 'feminism of poverty' in the US is argued to have caused all women to lose welfare as when birth control became available, 'women invested more in human capital because of lower expected rents from marriage.' ('The effect of women's rights on women's welfare: evidence from a natural experiment'- Silvia Pezzini 2005)