Health and labor market impacts of twin birth: Evidence from a Swedish IVF policy

Sonia Bhalotra, Damian Clarke, Hanna Mühlrad () and Mårten Palme
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Sonia Bhalotra: Department of Economics, University of Warwick, CEPR, IEA, IZA, CAGE, IFS, Postal: University of Warwick
Hanna Mühlrad: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

No 2023:19, Working Paper Series from IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract: In vitro fertilization (IVF) has allowed women to delay birth and pursue a career, but it massively increases the risk of twin birth. We investigate the extent to which having twins hampers women’s careers after birth. To do this, we leverage a single embryo transfer (SET) mandate for IVF procedures implemented in Sweden in 2003, following which the share of twin births showed a precipitous drop of 70%. Linking birth registers to hospitalization and earnings registers, we identify substantial improvements in women’s earnings following IVF birth, alongside improvements in maternal and child health and an increase in subsequent fertility. We provide the first comprehensive evaluation of SET. This is relevant given the secular rise in IVF births and the broader rise in the risk of twin birth.

Keywords: twins; IVF; single embryo transfer; career costs of children; gender wage gap; fertility; maternal health; neonatal health; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I12 I38 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 93 pages
Date: 2023-08-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-hea and nep-lab
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