Pensions and Fertility: Microeconomic Evidence

Alexander Danzer and Lennard Zyska

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2023, vol. 15, issue 2, 126-65

Abstract: This study identifies the causal effect of pension generosity on women's fertility behavior. It capitalizes on Brazil's expansion of the pension system to rural workers, whose pension wealth subsequently more than tripled. Difference-in-difference, instrumental variable, and event study methods show that the pension reform reduces the propensity of childbearing of women of fertile age by 8 percent in the short run. Completed fertility declines by 1.3 children within 20 years after the reform, reducing the contribution base of the pay-as-you-go pension system in the long run. The fertility response is strongest at higher birth parities, among older women, and among mothers with sons.

JEL-codes: H55 I38 J13 J16 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Pensions and Fertility: Micro-Economic Evidence (2020)
Working Paper: Pensions and Fertility: Micro-Economic Evidence (2020)
Working Paper: Pensions and Fertility: Micro-Economic Evidence (2020)
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DOI: 10.1257/pol.20200440

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