How Do Men Matter? Previous Relationships, Childbearing Histories, and Current Marital Fertility

J. Brian Brown, Ohio State University

How do married couples' relationship and fertility histories affect their likelihood of having a shared biological child? I use a sample of 4500 married women aged 19 to 45 from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth, which provides childbearing and relationship histories as well as detailed characteristics of their husbands. I treat fertility as a product of husbands' and wives' marital and childbearing histories and assess two theories previously used to understand men's role in fertility. When modeled as part of a couple rather than additively, I find significant evidence that men's previous childbearing reduces the likelihood of a shared birth. There is also evidence that women marry men (and vice versa) with certain characteristics to achieve a desired fertility outcome. This research suggests that a theoretical model specifying the direct and indirect effects of wives' and husbands' experiences is needed to better understand marital fertility.