Working Paper: NBER ID: w23087
Authors: Sebastian Galiani; Matthew Staiger; Gustavo Torrens
Abstract: During the 20th century there was a secular transformation within American families from a household dominated by the father to a more egalitarian one in which the wife and the children have been empowered. This transformation coincided with two major economic and demographic changes, namely the increase in economic opportunities for women and a decline in family size. To explain the connection between these trends and the transformation in family relationships we develop a novel model of parenting styles that highlights the importance of competition within the family. The key intuition is that the rise in relative earnings of wives increased competition between spouses for the love and affection of their children while the decline in family size reduced competition between children for resources from their parents. The combined effect has empowered children within the household and allowed them to capture an increasing share of the household surplus over the past hundred years.
Keywords: family economics; parenting styles; competition
JEL Codes: J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| rise in relative earnings of wives (J31) | competition between spouses for affection of children (J12) |
| decline in family size (J12) | competition among siblings for parental resources (Q34) |
| competition between spouses for affection of children + competition among siblings for parental resources (J12) | children's bargaining position within the household (D19) |
| rise in relative earnings of wives + decline in family size (J12) | children's share of household surplus (D19) |