"This project investigates how changes in Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)-level housing prices affect household fertility decisions. Recognizing that housing is a major cost associated with childrearing, and assuming that children are normal goods, we hypothesize that an increase in real...

We revisit the cyclical nature of birth rates and infant health and investigate to what extent the relationship between aggregate labor market conditions and birth outcomes is mitigated by the consumption smoothing income assistance delivered through unemployment insurance (UI). We introduce a...

This paper proposes that the adoption of the modern U.S. mortgage (i.e., low down payment, long-term, and fixed-rate)--led by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veteran's Administration (VA) loan insurance programs--set the stage for the mid-twentieth century U.S. baby boom by...