US fertility has fallen well below replacement, even as stated fertility ideals have not. We ask how much money and time women are willing to trade off for additional children, a question that is difficult to answer using observational data or even natural experiments. We field a discrete choice experiment in which 1,995 women choose between hypothetical futures varying the number of additional children, household income, and time use. Demand falls with both income and time prices, and rises with income faster than proportionally, consistent with larger families being a luxury good. Exploratory results show that full-time work, but not part-time work, is perceived as costly, and that baseline demand varies considerably by age, religiosity, and desired fertility even as price responses vary less. Notably, women on average require compensation, often significant, to accept a second additional child, including many who say they want two more. This finding complicates the standard reading of a stated ideal of two children as evidence of unmet demand: once its price is held fixed, we find little demand to reach it.

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5 November 2026     Paper Number CEPDP2230

Download PDF - Money, time, and the demand for children

This CEP discussion paper is published under the centre's Labour programme.