Jobs and Kids: Female Employment and Fertility in China

Hai Fang, Karen Eggleston, John Rizzo and Richard Zeckhauser
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Hai Fang: University of CO, Denver

Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

Abstract: Data on 2,355 married women from the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey are used to study how female employment affects fertility in China. China has deep concerns with both population size and female employment, so the relationship between the two should be better understood. Causality flows in both directions. A conceptual model shows how employment prospects affect fertility. Then a well-validated instrumental variable isolates this effect. Female employment reduces a married woman's preferred number of children by 0.35 on average and her actual number by 0.50. Ramifications for China's one-child policy are discussed.

JEL-codes: J13 J18 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-dem, nep-dev, nep-lab, nep-lma, nep-ltv and nep-tra
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https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/work ... ?PubId=8675&type=WPN

Related works:
Journal Article: Jobs and kids: female employment and fertility in China (2013)
Working Paper: Jobs and Kids: Female Employment and Fertility in China (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-054

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