Our findings are consistent with scholarship suggesting that although economic factors shape decisions about family life, the rationalactor framework is insufficient for understanding contemporary US

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Economic resources and parity among US women: A conjoint experiment on preferred family scenarios (2026) · doi

  Our findings are consistent with scholarship suggesting that although economic factors shape decisions about family life, the rationalactor framework is insufficient for understanding contemporary US fertility declines.

  Keywords: consistent scholarship suggesting economic factors shape decisions family life rationalactor framework insufficient understanding contemporary fertility
• Women’s Trade-Offs between Fertility and Employment during Industrialisation (2021) · doi

  Analyses of effects of employment on fertility in contemporary developing or post-demographic transition populations are limited by the widespread use of modern contraceptives: while uptake of these methods may be a mechanism by which reduced fertility is enacted, their use may obscure effects of employment on fertility.

  Keywords: fertility effects employment analyses contemporary developing post demographic transition populations limited widespread modern contraceptives uptake
• Marginalization of African single mothers in the marriage market: Evidence from Cameroon (1999) · doi

  Abstract Despite a growing concern over the health and socio-economic consequences of premarital fertility in Africa, few studies have explored the effect of premarital birth on the subsequent likelihood of getting married.

  Keywords: premarital abstract despite growing concern health socio economic consequences fertility africa explored effect birth subsequent