Abstract
This study analyzes empirically the extent to which the labor market activity of women affects the duration of first birth intervals among married women in Taiwan. By employing the data from the 1989 Taiwan Women and Family Survey, our estimation results suggest that women’s employment strongly affects the duration of first birth intervals, and that various aspects of women’s labor force activities affect first birth intervals differently. In terms of the number of working hours, women who work more than 30 hours per week tend to have an earlier first birth. On the other hand, work experience, as indicated by the women’s labor force participation surrounding the first birth as well as their job tenure, tends to positively affect first birth intervals. When the model is estimated on the basis of age cohorts, this implication remains the same.