Estimating the Causal Effect of Fertility on Women’s Employment in Africa Using Twins

Jong, Eelke de; Smits, Jeroen; Longwe, A.L.P.

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.10.012

Cited by 33 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Highly educated women tend to have fewer children as marriage and childbearing were delayed to complete their study [20]. Moreover, working women usually restrict the number of children they have to avoid the loss of career opportunities [12,[21][22][23][24]. Thus, women's educational levels and employment statuses are important factors contributing to the decline in fertility rates [12,25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Fertility Intentions for a Second Child in Contemporary China Based on User-Generated Content

Qian

Fang

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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China’s two-child policy, aimed at boosting the country’s total fertility rate, has failed to achieve the desired outcomes. Previous studies on low fertility rates mainly used data obtained from demographic censuses, questionnaires, or interviews. These data-gathering methods are costly, entailing time delays and yielding limited information. User-generated content (UGC) provides an alternative data source. We propose a machine–human hybrid approach using UGC obtained from social media to assess users’ intentions to have a second child. Our results showed that couples associate a second child with high economic costs mainly through negative impacts on the mothers’ careers, with no concomitant economic benefits. A key motivation for having two children relates to the mental benefit of the joy in having children. However, raising a second child also entails considerable mental costs such as exhaustion and pressure. Couples largely seek help within their extended families, that is, their parents are major sources of child-rearing support. Therefore, the government should devise ways of reducing the negative impacts of having a second child on a woman’s career and provide child-rearing support to help increase the fertility rate. Our proposed approach can also be used to elicit the reasons for low fertility rates in other countries.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating Fertility Intentions for a Second Child in Contemporary China Based on User-Generated Content

Qian

Fang

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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“…However, low profitability, lack of finance, idiosyncratic labor shocks and unreliable supplies cause NFEs to stop operating. For women, it has been extensively documented that marital status and fertility reduce the likelihood to continue employment (de Jong et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamics of off-farm employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A gender perspective

Broeck

Kilic²

2019

World Development

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The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

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“…Of the 287 identified working papers, journal articles, book chapters, dissertation papers, and reports from the PopPov Research Initiative as of June 2016, 11 papers causally linked the effects of reproductive health (or the subsequent fertility changes) to women's economic outcomes and met statistical rigor. In addition, we included 3 papers that examined the impact of fertility differences on women's economic empowerment without the first stage of reproductive health policy or programs and 2 papers that were supported by funders outside the PopPov Research Network but that were closely linked to the PopPov‐supported work being conducted by the researchers from 2006 to 2016 . As noted, we also included 4 seminal papers that influenced the work by the PopPov Network members …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Looking at data from 26 sub‐Saharan African countries, de Jong, Smits, and Longwe used twins as an instrumental variable to assess the impact of an additional child on women working . The researchers found that the additional child to care for meant that a woman was 6% less likely to work and that effects were particularly strong on older, educated women.…”

Section: Better Reproductive Health Enables Women's Economic Empowermentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher maternal age at first birth (or reduced chances of childbearing during adolescence) increases the likelihood of school completion and participation in the formal labor market . Having fewer children increases labor market participation . In related qualitative work outside the PopPov body of research, longer birth intervals also present as a reason for increased labor market participation .…”

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confidence: 97%

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Identifying Causal Effects of Reproductive Health Improvements on Women's Economic Empowerment Through the Population Poverty Research Initiative

Finlay

Lee

2018

Milbank Quarterly

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Estimating the Causal Effect of Fertility on Women’s Employment in Africa Using Twins

Cited by 33 publications

References 45 publications

Investigating Fertility Intentions for a Second Child in Contemporary China Based on User-Generated Content

Investigating Fertility Intentions for a Second Child in Contemporary China Based on User-Generated Content

Dynamics of off-farm employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A gender perspective

Identifying Causal Effects of Reproductive Health Improvements on Women's Economic Empowerment Through the Population Poverty Research Initiative

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