SELF-ESTEEM ENHANCEMENT THROUGH FERTILITY - SOCIOECONOMIC PROSPECTS, GENDER, AND MUTUAL INFLUENCE

I analyze data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), using a LISREL model to examine whether having children influences one 's self-esteem, whether the effect of children on self-esteem is stron ger among the less socioeconomically privileged and among women, and w hether there is evidence of mutual influence in the relationship betwe en having children and self-esteem. I find that the number of children does not affect self-esteem, this holds true for both women and men, and for different socioeconomic groups. There is no evidence of nonlin earity in the relationship between number of children and self-esteem. Further, self-esteem does not affect whether men or women have childr en.