IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcecon/v50y2022i2p584-598.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fertility and maternal labor supply: Evidence from the new two-child policies in urban China

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Xiaoyu

Abstract

The One-Child Policy which had been implemented for over 30 years in China was formally relaxed in 2010s. The New Two-Child Policies gradually allowed all couples to have two children. This paper investigates the impact of the New Two-Child Policies on individual behavior related to birth and maternal labor supply. We find number of children significantly increased after the implementation of the New Two-Child Policies. Using the New Two-Child Policies as an exogenous variation in fertility, we find negative effect of number of children on maternal labor supply in both extensive and intensive margin. Our results have important implications for the further relaxation of birth-control policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Fertility and maternal labor supply: Evidence from the new two-child policies in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 584-598.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:50:y:2022:i:2:p:584-598
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2022.01.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596722000026
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jce.2022.01.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Han & Li, Jiangyi & Lu, Yi & Xie, Huihua, 2020. "Housing wealth and labor supply: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    2. Heath, Rachel, 2017. "Fertility at work: Children and women's labor market outcomes in urban Ghana," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 190-214.
    3. Stephen Benard & Shelley Correll & In Paik, 2007. "Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty?," Natural Field Experiments 00227, The Field Experiments Website.
    4. Shing-Yi Wang, 2019. "The Labor Supply Consequences of Having a Boy in China," NBER Working Papers 26185, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Deborah J. Anderson & Melissa Binder & Kate Krause, 2002. "The Motherhood Wage Penalty: Which Mothers Pay It and Why?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 354-358, May.
    6. Zhou, Weina, 2014. "Brothers, household financial markets and savings rate in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 34-47.
    7. Feng, Shuaizhang & Hu, Yingyao & Moffitt, Robert, 2017. "Long run trends in unemployment and labor force participation in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 304-324.
    8. Chen, Xi & Ge, Suqin, 2018. "Social norms and female labor force participation in urban China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 966-987.
    9. Fu, Shihe & Liao, Yu & Zhang, Junfu, 2016. "The effect of housing wealth on labor force participation: Evidence from China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-69.
    10. Margaret Maurer-Fazio & Rachel Connelly & Lan Chen & Lixin Tang, 2011. "Childcare, Eldercare, and Labor Force Participation of Married Women in Urban China, 1982–2000," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(2), pages 261-294.
    11. Fenglian Du & Xiao-yuan Dong, 2010. "Women’s Labor Force Participation and Childcare Choices in Urban China during the Economic Transition," Departmental Working Papers 2010-04, The University of Winnipeg, Department of Economics.
    12. Roland Pongou, 2013. "Why Is Infant Mortality Higher in Boys Than in Girls? A New Hypothesis Based on Preconception Environment and Evidence From a Large Sample of Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 421-444, April.
    13. Heath, Rachel & Tan, Xu, 2018. "Worth fighting for: Daughters improve their mothers' autonomy in South Asia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 255-271.
    14. Jorge M. Agüero & Mindy S. Marks, 2011. "Motherhood and Female Labor Supply in the Developing World: Evidence from Infertility Shocks," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(4), pages 800-826.
    15. Guo, Rufei & Li, Hongbin & Yi, Junjian & Zhang, Junsen, 2018. "Fertility, household structure, and parental labor supply: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 145-156.
    16. Hongbin Li & Junjian Yi & Junsen Zhang, 2011. "Estimating the Effect of the One-Child Policy on the Sex Ratio Imbalance in China: Identification Based on the Difference-in-Differences," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(4), pages 1535-1557, November.
    17. Roland Pongou, 2013. "Erratum to: Why Is Infant Mortality Higher in Boys Than in Girls? A New Hypothesis Based on Preconception Environment and Evidence From a Large Sample of Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(2), pages 445-446, April.
    18. Dennis Tao Yang & Marjorie McElroy, 2000. "Carrots and Sticks: Fertility Effects of China's Population Policies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 389-392, May.
    19. Yuan Cao, 2019. "Fertility and labor supply: evidence from the One-Child Policy in China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 889-910, February.
    20. Petter Lundborg & Erik Plug & Astrid Würtz Rasmussen, 2017. "Can Women Have Children and a Career? IV Evidence from IVF Treatments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(6), pages 1611-1637, June.
    21. Junsen Zhang, 2017. "The Evolution of China's One-Child Policy and Its Effects on Family Outcomes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 141-160, Winter.
    22. Lixing Li & Xiaoyu Wu, 2011. "Gender of Children, Bargaining Power, and Intrahousehold Resource Allocation in China," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(2), pages 295-316.
    23. Angrist, Joshua D & Evans, William N, 1998. "Children and Their Parents' Labor Supply: Evidence from Exogenous Variation in Family Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 450-477, June.
    24. Joyce P. Jacobsen & James Wishart Pearce III & Joshua L. Rosenbloom, 1999. "The Effects of Childbearing on Married Women's Labor Supply and Earnings: Using Twin Births as a Natural Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(3), pages 449-474.
    25. Fei Wang & Liqiu Zhao & Zhong Zhao, 2017. "China’s family planning policies and their labor market consequences," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 31-68, January.
    26. Xiaoyu Wu & Jianmei Zhao, 2020. "Risk sharing, siblings, and household equity investment: evidence from urban China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 461-482, April.
    27. Xiaobo He & Rong Zhu, 2016. "Fertility and Female Labour Force Participation: Causal Evidence from Urban China," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(5), pages 664-674, September.
    28. Julio Cáceres-Delpiano, 2012. "Can We Still Learn Something From the Relationship Between Fertility and Mother’s Employment? Evidence From Developing Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(1), pages 151-174, February.
    29. Lixing Li & Xiaoyu Wu, 2017. "The Consequences of Having a Son on Family Wealth in Urban China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(2), pages 378-393, June.
    30. Chi, Wei & Li, Bo, 2008. "Glass ceiling or sticky floor? Examining the gender earnings differential across the earnings distribution in urban China, 1987-2004," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 243-263, June.
    31. Yu Qin & Fei Wang, 2017. "Too early or too late: What have we learned from the 30-year two-child policy experiment in Yicheng, China?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(30), pages 929-956.
    32. Björn Gustafsson & Shi Li, 2000. "Economic transformation and the gender earnings gap in urban China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 13(2), pages 305-329.
    33. repec:eee:labchp:v:1:y:1986:i:c:p:103-204 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yin, Yongkun, 2023. "China’s demographic transition: A quantitative analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Lucie Giorgi & Eva Raiber, 2024. "For better or for babies: The effect of the two-child policy in China on who gets married," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 13, Stata Users Group.
    3. Yijun YU & Hisaki KONO, 2024. "Fertility Policy and Gender Discrimination in the Workplace:Evidence from the Two-Child Policy Reform in China," Discussion papers e-24-001, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    4. Zhu, Mengbing & Xing, Chunbing & Li, Yi, 2023. "Husbands' wages and married women's labor supply in urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Ying Zhao & Lin Zhang & Yuanping Lu & Bo Wen, 2023. "More Rights but Less Gains: Relaxed Birth Control Policy and the Loss for Women," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 159-191, March.
    6. Zhou, Jing & Chen, Huashuai, 2023. "Will reducing the burden of extracurricular tutoring raise fertility willingness in China? Five policy suggestions," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1132-1147.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rao, Ziwei, 2021. "Do children prevent their poor old parents from working?," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242424, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Pan, Zheng & Jiang, Xiandeng & Zhao, Ningru, 2021. "Does birth spacing affect female labor market participation? Evidence from urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Joseph Boniface Ajefu, 2019. "Does having children affect women’s entrepreneurship decision? Evidence from Nigeria," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 843-860, September.
    4. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E. & Doan, Nguyen, 2020. "Motherhood Employment Penalty and Gender Wage Gap Across Countries: 1990–2010," MPRA Paper 99866, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Meng, Lingsheng & Zhang, Yunbin & Zou, Ben, 2023. "The motherhood penalty in China: Magnitudes, trends, and the role of grandparenting," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 105-132.
    6. Chu, Yu-Wei Luke & Cuffe, Harold E & Doan, Nguyen, 2021. "Motherhood Employment Penalty and Gender Wage Gap Across Countries: 1990–2010," Working Paper Series 9446, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    7. Nieto, Adrián, 2021. "Native-immigrant differences in the effect of children on the gender pay gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 654-680.
    8. Anh P. Ngo, 2020. "Effects of Vietnam’s two-child policy on fertility, son preference, and female labor supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 751-794, July.
    9. Semih Tumen & Belgi Turan, 2023. "The effect of fertility on female labor supply in a labor market with extensive informality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 1855-1894, October.
    10. Ying Zhao & Lin Zhang & Yuanping Lu & Bo Wen, 2023. "More Rights but Less Gains: Relaxed Birth Control Policy and the Loss for Women," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(2), pages 159-191, March.
    11. Meng, Lina & Peng, Lu & Zhou, Yinggang, 2023. "Do housing booms reduce fertility intentions? Evidence from the new two-child policy in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    12. Bhalotra, Sonia & Clarke, Damian & Walther, Selma, 2022. "Women's Careers and Family Formation," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1120, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Guo, Rufei & Li, Hongbin & Yi, Junjian & Zhang, Junsen, 2018. "Fertility, household structure, and parental labor supply: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 145-156.
    14. Schmieder, Julia, 2021. "Fertility as a driver of maternal employment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    15. Hong Liu & Lili Liu & Fei Wang, 2023. "Housing wealth and fertility: evidence from China," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 359-395, January.
    16. Arjun Bedi & Tanmoy Majilla & Matthias Rieger, 2022. "Does signaling childcare support on job applications reduce the motherhood penalty?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 373-387, June.
    17. Lucie Giorgi & Eva Raiber, 2024. "For better or for babies: The effect of the two-child policy in China on who gets married," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 13, Stata Users Group.
    18. Julia Schmieder, 2020. "Fertility as a Driver of Maternal Employment," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1882, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    19. Huang, Naqun & Ning, Guangjie & Rong, Zhao, 2022. "Destination homeownership and labor force participation: Evidence from rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    20. Deng, Yue & Zhou, Yuqian & Hu, Dezhuang, 2023. "Grandparental childcare and female labor market behaviors: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fertility; Labor supply; Population policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:50:y:2022:i:2:p:584-598. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622864 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.