Women's paid work and the timing of births: longitudinal evidence.

It has been suggested that work-motivated women may shorten their birth intervals to allow a faster return to the workforce. This paper: 1) considers the circumstances under which such contraction would be expected; 2) argues that British conditions in the 1940s to 1970s were favorable to the adoption of this strategy, among others; 3) discusses some methodological issues arising in the empirical treatment of the question; and 4) presents the results of analyses of work and maternity history information, which suggest that during the post-war period, labor force participation was associated with both a contraction and a lengthening of birth intervals.