Fertility, Employment, and Child-Care Costs

Abstract

A sample of labor-market and birth histories is used to estimate the effects of child-care costs on employment and fertility decisions. A reduced-form empirical analysis is performed, which is based on hazard functions for transitions among various fertility--employment states. Higher child-care costs result in a lower birth rate for nonemployed women but not for employed women. Higher child-care costs also lead to an increase in the rate of leaving employment and a reduction in the rate of entering employment. The results suggest that potential behavioral effects of child-care subsidies could be significant and should be taken into account when alternative child-care policies are being debated.

Grandparenting and Childbearing in the Extended Family

“…Their findings suggest that access to informal care arrangements increases the risk of first birth. Similarly Blau and Robins (1989) report that, among employed women, having an additional adult in the household other than the spouse, increases the probability of birth. Lehrer and Kawasaki (1985) show that US women who rely on relatives rather than on paid care providers are more likely to have an additional birth, meaning that grandparenting might reduce the cost of childcare and hence increase fertility.…”

Low Fertility at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century

“…In some contexts the direct costs of education were salient, but indirect costs were likely more consequential (see Becker 1981, Becker & Lewis 1973, Caldwell 1982. The increase in these costs does not seem to be a fact in dispute and must be an antinatalist force (see Blau & Robins 1989, Mason & Kuhlthau 1992). …”

Fertility decisions and alternative types of childcare

“…Information on childcare characteristics is usually collected through surveys and aggregated to build average indicators at the local level [6]. A handful of studies have considered the effects of childcare costs on both employment and fertility outcomes using US data.…”