Employment and Fertility in Rural China: Implications for the “One–Child” Policy
Fang, Hai; Eggleston, Karen N.; Rizzo, John A.; & Zeckhauser, Richard J. (2010). Employment and Fertility in Rural China: Implications for the “One–Child” Policy. .
Fang, Hai; Eggleston, Karen N.; Rizzo, John A.; & Zeckhauser, Richard J. (2010). Employment and Fertility in Rural China: Implications for the “One–Child” Policy. .
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We study how off-farm employment affects actual and desired fertility using data on 2,288 married women from the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Causality flows in both directions; hence, we use instrumental variables – validated by a number of statistical tests -- to estimate employment status. Off-farm employment reduces the actual number of children by 0.64, the desired number of children by 0.48, and the probability of having more than one child by 54.7%. Having a first child who is a son lowers fertility (both actual and preferred). We discuss the implications of our results for China’s one-child policy.
RPRT
Fang, Hai
Eggleston, Karen N.
Rizzo, John A.
Zeckhauser, Richard J.
2010
1258