Equality and fertility in the kibbutz

✍ Scribed by Leif Danziger; Shoshana Neuman

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1993
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 609 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0933-1433
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00164338

✦ Synopsis

The kibbutz' quest for equality makes a member's consumption independent of his contribution to production, and the kibbutz itself responsible for almost all childrearing expenses. This fundamental departure from the standard organization of economic life of course affects fertility. We find that a parent's predicted wage (as determined by the parent's individual characteristics) has a smaller positive effect on fertility in the city than in the kibbutz, and that a parent's education has a negative effect on fertility in the city and either a smaller negative effect or no effect in the kibbutz.

We thank the referees and Alessandro Cigno for helpful comments. Leif Danziger acknowledges the financial support from the Faculty of Arts, York University.