Research on the causes and policy implications of fertility decline and differentials in the United States has been hampered a lack of comparable, long-term fertility estimates and a focus on short-term factors. This project will: (1) produce a consistently constructed and comparable set of fertility trends and differentials between 1790 and 2000;and (2) construct empirical models to understand the processes by which fertility declined. The analysis relies on data from two complementary sources: The Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS), a series of large, high-precision census microdata samples for fifteen census years between 1850 and 2000, and the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) project, a compatible dataset of aggregate data collected with the 1790-2000 censuses. The proposed development plan is designed to accomplish four objectives: 1) to acquire new methodological skills to allow me to accurately describe and explain long-term fertility decline in the United States;2) to acquire a better theoretical grounding from which to integrate social and economic explanations of why American fertility declined;3) to present my work at scholarly conferences and publish in leading journals;and 4) to prepare a grant proposal to support an independent research program. My plan includes three separate training components: mentorship by leading demographers and economists, coursework in demography at the University of Pennsylvania, and participation in the population research community via workshops and seminars at the Pennsylvania Population Studies Center and annual meetings of the Population Association of America.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research & Training (K01)
Project #
5K01HD052617-04
Application #
7618551
Study Section
Pediatrics Subcommittee (CHHD)
Program Officer
King, Rosalind B
Project Start
2006-06-01
Project End
2011-05-31
Budget Start
2009-06-01
Budget End
2010-05-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$131,646
Indirect Cost
Name
State University of NY, Binghamton
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
090189965
City
Binghamton
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
13902
Hacker, J David; Roberts, Evan (2017) The impact of kin availability, parental religiosity, and nativity on fertility differentials in the late 19th-century United States. Demogr Res 37:1049-1080
Hacker, J David (2016) Ready, Willing, and Able? Impediments to the Onset of Marital Fertility Decline in the United States. Demography 53:1657-1692
Jennings, Julia A; Sullivan, Allison R; Hacker, J David (2012) Intergenerational transmission of reproductive behavior during the demographic transition. J Interdiscip Hist 42:543-69
Hacker, J David; Hilde, Libra; Jones, James Holland (2010) The Effect of the Civil War on Southern Marriage Patterns. J South Hist 76:39-70
Hacker, J David (2010) Decennial Life Tables for the White Population of the United States, 1790-1900. Hist Methods 43:45-79