American fertility and industrial restructuring: a possible link

Despite the fact that economic and demographic factors conventionally are considered to be integrally related, researchers have overlooked recent changes in the structure of the American economy that may have affected fertility in the US. This article seeks to raise questions and explores the possibility that recent processes of industrial restructuring have created new employment patterns and socioeconomic conditions which have influenced American fertility positively. Specifically, conditions of underemployment and unemployment, generated by the service and manufacturing sectors, may be conducive to increased fertility.