Pregnancy Loss and Female Labor Market Outcomes

As many as 20% of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage - random event that any expecting woman is susceptible to, yet the economic effects this prevalent fertility shock have not been directly studied. In paper, we use data from National Longitudinal Survey Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and address critical empirical question: how do miscarriages affect women's labor market outcomes, such income supply? We find associated with about $2,500 loss annual post-loss. Our findings suggest negative effect on female outcomes pregnancy outweighs positive delaying childbirth.