The Effect of Oil and Gas Employment on Fertility Outcomes in Metro and Nonmetro Counties in the United States

Anastasia R. Snyder , The Ohio State University
Michael Betz, The Ohio State University
Michael Shepard, The Ohio State University
Madeline Drost, The Ohio State University

This study examines the effect of shale and gas employment on fertility outcomes in metro and nonmetro counties. We use data from the 2009-2015 American Community Survey county level files, and append data from the Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI). The EMSI data allows us to separate oil and gas employment from all other types of employment in each U.S. county. We find that an increased oil and gas employment is significantly associated with a modest increase in county-level total fertility rates in metro counties, and with marital fertility rates in metro counties. In nonmetro counties an increase in oil and gas employment is significantly associated with a modest decline in teen fertility rates. We found no association between an increase in oil and gas employment and nonmarital fertility rates. Future analyses will include analyses that use restricted PUMS data from the ACS to examine individual level fertility outcomes.

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 Presented in Session 1. Fertility, Family Planning, Sexual Behavior, & Reproductive Health 1