Motivated by the rise in premature mortality among working-age adults, we examine the association between adult familial deaths and the transition to motherhood. Although many deaths can be disruptive, deaths that occur sooner than expected and to certain family members (e.g., mothers) may prompt changes in resources, time available for parenting, or psychological understandings in ways that change fertility behavior. Data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (N = 4,008 women aged 15–34). Using fixed effects to address selection, we compare the associations between recent off-time deaths (mother, father, or sibling deaths) and on-time deaths (grandparent deaths) on fertility. Women had higher odds of first birth when they recently experienced a sibling or maternal death compared to when they had not recently experienced that type of death. Effects of maternal and sibling deaths were statistically larger than the null effect found for grandparent death. The strong effect of sibling and maternal death on hastening first birth suggest that mortality may influence a psychological reevaluation of values vis-à-vis parenting and/or decrease psychological well-being in ways that change sexual practices.

中文翻译：

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家族死亡和第一次出生

受工作年龄成年人过早死亡率上升的推动，我们研究了成年家庭死亡与向母亲过渡之间的关联。尽管许多死亡可能具有破坏性，但比预期发生得更早且发生在某些家庭成员（例如母亲）身上的死亡可能会促使资源、可用于育儿的时间或心理理解发生变化，从而改变生育行为。数据来自 1997 年全国青年纵向调查（N = 4,008 名 15-34 岁的女性）。我们使用固定效应来解决选择问题，比较近期非正常死亡（母亲、父亲或兄弟姐妹死亡）和准时死亡（祖父母死亡）与生育率之间的关联。与最近没有经历过此类死亡的女性相比，最近经历过兄弟姐妹或产妇死亡的女性首次生育的​​几率更高。母亲和兄弟姐妹死亡的影响在统计学上大于祖父母死亡的零效应。兄弟姐妹和母亲死亡对加速第一胎出生的强烈影响表明，死亡率可能会影响对父母价值观的心理重新评估和/或以改变性行为的方式降低心理健康。