IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jku/econwp/2024-01.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Life After Loss: The Causal Effect of Parental Death on Daughters' Fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Felix Glaser
  • Rene Wiesinger

Abstract

We use high-quality administrative data from Austria to credibly identify the causal effect of parental death on daughters' fertility. To account for the endogeneity of parental death, we exploit the timing of deaths in a difference-in-differences research design. Parental death has no statistically significant effect on daughters' fertility, even in situations where the loss of informal childcare should be particularly pronounced. The absence of a fertility effect is strengthened by an extensive series of robustness checks and results on complementary outcomes, including labor market participation, place of residence, and mental health. Our findings suggest that women do not make significant adjustments to important life decisions after the loss of a parent.

Suggested Citation

  • Felix Glaser & Rene Wiesinger, 2024. "Life After Loss: The Causal Effect of Parental Death on Daughters' Fertility," Economics working papers 2024-01, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    • Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2024-01
    Note: English
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econ.jku.at/papers/2024/wp2401.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wolfgang Frimmel & Martin Halla & Bernhard Schmidpeter & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2022. "Grandmothers’ Labor Supply," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(5), pages 1645-1689.
    2. Eibich, Peter & Siedler, Thomas, 2020. "Retirement, intergenerational time transfers, and fertility," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    3. Roberta Rutigliano, 2020. "Counting on Potential Grandparents? Adult Children’s Entry Into Parenthood Across European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1414, August.
    4. Daniela Del Boca, 2002. "The effect of child care and part time opportunities on participation and fertility decisions in Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(3), pages 549-573.
    5. Rellstab, Sara & Bakx, Pieter & García-Gómez, Pilar & van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2020. "The kids are alright - labour market effects of unexpected parental hospitalisations in the Netherlands," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Mathias Jensen & Ning Zhang, 2023. "Effects of Parental Death on Labor Market Outcomes and Gender Inequalities," Economics Series Working Papers 1018, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    7. Felix Glaser & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2023. "A hard pill to swallow? Parental health shocks and children's mental health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(12), pages 2768-2800, December.
    8. Rachel Margolis & Mikko Myrskylä, 2011. "A Global Perspective on Happiness and Fertility," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 37(1), pages 29-56, March.
    9. Ainhoa Aparicio-Fenoll & Marian Vidal-Fernandez, 2015. "Working Women and Fertility: the Role of Grandmothers’ Labor Force Participation," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(1), pages 123-147.
    10. Sebastian Pink, 2018. "Anticipated (Grand-)Parental Childcare Support and the Decision to Become a Parent," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(5), pages 691-720, December.
    11. Arindam Nandi & Sumit Mazumdar & Jere R. Behrman, 2018. "The effect of natural disaster on fertility, birth spacing, and child sex ratio: evidence from a major earthquake in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 267-293, January.
    12. Éva Beaujouan & Anne Solaz, 2023. "Polarized adult fertility patterns following early parental death," Population Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(2), pages 217-239, May.
    13. Ilciukas, Julius, 2023. "Fertility and parental retirement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    14. Ida Lykke Kristiansen, 2021. "Consequences of serious parental health events on child mental health and educational outcomes," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(8), pages 1772-1817, August.
    15. Ayako Hiyoshi & Lisa Berg & Alessandra Grotta & Ylva Almquist & Mikael Rostila, 2021. "Parental death in childhood and pathways to increased mortality across the life course in Stockholm, Sweden: A cohort study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-16, March.
    16. Itzik Fadlon & Torben Heien Nielsen, 2021. "Family Labor Supply Responses to Severe Health Shocks: Evidence from Danish Administrative Records," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 1-30, July.
    17. David I. Kertzer & Michael J. White & Laura Bernardi & Giuseppe Gabrielli, 2009. "Italy’s Path to Very Low Fertility: The Adequacy of Economic and Second Demographic Transition Theories," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 89-115, February.
    18. Bozzoli, Carlos G., 2016. "Orphanhood and fertility in young adults: Evidence from South Africa," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 190-200.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Edoardo Frattola, 2023. "Parental retirement and fertility decisions across family policy regimes," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1417, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    2. Felix Glaser & Gerald J. Pruckner, 2023. "A hard pill to swallow? Parental health shocks and children's mental health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(12), pages 2768-2800, December.
    3. Ilciukas, Julius, 2023. "Fertility and parental retirement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    4. Leimer, Birgit & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2022. "Are grandchildren good for you? Well-being and health effects of becoming a grandparent," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    5. Wolfgang Frimmel & Rene Wiesinger, 2024. "Sick Happens: The Effect of Worker Health Shocks on Coworkers' Employment and Health Behavior," Economics working papers 2024-12, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    6. Eibich, Peter & Siedler, Thomas, 2020. "Retirement, intergenerational time transfers, and fertility," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    7. Eiji Yamamura & Fumio Ohtake, 2023. "Family Structure, Gender and Subjective Well-being: Effect of Child ren before and after COVID 19 in Japan," Papers 2312.04411, arXiv.org.
    8. Esteban García-Miralles & Miriam Gensowski, 2020. "Are Children's Socio-Emotional Skills Shaped by Parental Health Shocks?," CEBI working paper series 20-21, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    9. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    10. Wen, Jiayi & Huang, Haili, 2024. "Parental health penalty on adult children’s employment: Gender differences and long-term consequences," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    11. Wolfgang Frimmel & Martin Halla & Bernhard Schmidpeter & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2022. "Grandmothers’ Labor Supply," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(5), pages 1645-1689.
    12. Roberta Rutigliano, 2020. "Counting on Potential Grandparents? Adult Children’s Entry Into Parenthood Across European Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(4), pages 1393-1414, August.
    13. Massimiliano Bratti & Tommaso Frattini & Francesco Scervini, 2018. "Grandparental availability for child care and maternal labor force participation: pension reform evidence from Italy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1239-1277, October.
    14. Alexander Ahammer & Gerald J. Pruckner & Flora Stiftinger, 2024. "The labor and health economics of breast cancer," Economics working papers 2024-09, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    15. Peter Eibich & Xianhua Zai, 2022. "Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-023, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    16. Charlene Marie Kalenkoski & Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, 2023. "Parental disability and teenagers’ time allocation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 1379-1407, December.
    17. Peter Eibich & Xianhua Zai, 2024. "Are the grandparents alright? The health consequences of grandparental childcare provision," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-32, December.
    18. Rupert, Peter & Zanella, Giulio, 2018. "Grandchildren and their grandparents' labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 89-103.
    19. Barschkett, Mara & Spieß, C. Katharina & Ziege, Elena, 2021. "Intergenerational Effects of Grandparental Care on Children and Parents," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242397, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Ainoa Aparicio Fenoll, 2020. "The uneven impact of women's retirement on their daughters' employment," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 795-821, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Parental death; fertility; difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:jku:econwp:2024-01. 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: René Böheim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vlinzat.html .

    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.