The Demographic Transition and the Sexual Division of Labor

The situation of women has undergone profound changes over the last few decades in developed and developed countries, including an increase in female participation in the paid labor force, an increase in life expectancy at birth, and a decrease in the total fertility rate. 

Working to include theory and empirical evidence, research by Rodrigo Soares explores the relationship between the reductions in mortality apparent at the demographic transition with changes in female labor force participation and in the wage differential between men and women. Soares’s research relied on data from the 1996 Brazilian Demographic and Health Survey.

The research seeks to understand the effect of mortality changes on human capital and investment decisions in children. Increases in life expectancy appear to be related to changes in female labor force participation as well as reductions in the gender wage gap.  Advances in medical and biological sciences led to reductions in child mortality and increases in adult longevity. These factors reduced the potential gain from large family size and increased the return on investments in human capital, as women gained more opportunities to participate in the workforce. 

Overall, the female labor supply tends to be positively associated with adult survival but not closely related to child mortality. This is because declines in child mortality increase the value of women's time in the household whereas declines in adult mortality increase returns to labor market attachment.  The results are consistent with the timing of changes in fertility and female labor  force participation after the transition.  Fertility reductions are observed soon after the onset of sustained gains in life expectancy, when reductions in child mortality still play a prominent role.  Increases in female labor force participation appear later on, as adult mortality gains relative importance.