Who is the “boss” in planning to have a baby? Fertility and household bargaining in China

Jie Ma, Xiaojun Yang and Yxuan Fei
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Jie Ma: Jinhe Center for Economic Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Xiaojun Yang: School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University
Yxuan Fei: School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University

JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, 2025, vol. 91, issue 3, 487-507

Abstract: Although fertility is typically regarded as a unitary family decision, a meaningful degree of disagreement in fertility willingness exists within households, especially for having two or more children. As China transitioned from a one-child to multiple-child policy, understanding how such disagreement affects fertility decisions is crucial. Using household data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, we analyze fertility willingness in married couples. We find that over 10% of families disagree on having two or more children. Disagreement negatively impacts plans to have more children: only the husband wanting two children significantly reduces fertility plans compared to mutual agreement, while only the wife wanting two children does not suppress the plan. This is consistent with the wife's veto power in fertility decisions. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that more equal gender role and higher bargaining power contribute to the wife's veto power, offering insights into the mechanism of intra-household fertility decisions.

Keywords: Fertility; Fertility winllingness; Fertility disagreement; Houshold bargaining; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-09-30
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctl:louvde:v:91:y:2025:i:3:p:487-507

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