Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/120992 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 9342
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper tests the effects of fertility on household structure and parental labor supply in rural China. To solve the endogeneity problem, we use a unique survey on households with twin children and a comparison group of non-twin households. The ordinary least squares estimates show a negative correlation between fertility and parental labor supply. Using twinning as a natural experiment, we do not find evidence on the negative effects of fertility on parental labor supply. By contrast, we find that the twinning-induced increase in fertility enhances significantly the coresidence of grandparents. The results remain robust when we use the Chinese 1990 population census. We suggest that the negative effects of fertility on parental labor supply are mitigated by the childcare provided by grandparents. Our results have important implications for population and public childcare policies.
Subjects: 
fertility
parental labor supply
household structure
JEL: 
J13
J18
J22
O10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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