Relative cohort size - the ratio of young to prime-age adults - and relative income - the income of young adults relative to their material aspirations, as instrumented using the income of older families their parents' age - have experienced dramatic changes over the past 40 years. Relative...

Relative cohort size – the ratio of young to prime-age adults – and relative income – the income of young adults relative to their material aspirations, as instrumented using the income of older families their parents' age – have experienced dramatic changes over the past 40 years....

Using United Nations estimates of age structure and vital rates for nearly 200 nations at five year intervals from 1950 through 1995, this paper demonstrates how changes in relative cohort size appear to have affected patterns of fertility across nations since 1950-not just in developed...