TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fang,Hai
AU  - Eggleston,Karen N.
AU  - Rizzo,John A.
AU  - Zeckhauser,Richard J.
TI  - Jobs and Kids: Female Employment and Fertility in Rural China
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15886
PY  - 2010
Y2  - April 2010
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15886
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15886.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Hai Fang
Department of Health Systems,
  Management and Policy
University of Colorado Denver
13001 E 17th Place, Campus Box B119
Aurora, CO 80045
Tel: (303)724-4777
Fax: (303)724-4495
E-Mail: hai.fang@ucdenver.edu

Karen Eggleston
Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Stanford University
616 Serra Street
Stanford, CA 94305
Tel: 650/723-9072
Fax: 650/723-6530
E-Mail: karene@stanford.edu

John Rizzo
Stony Brook University
N-637 Social and Behavioral Sciences Bldg.
Stony Brook, NY 11794
E-Mail: John.Rizzo@stonybrook.edu

Richard J. Zeckhauser
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA  02138
Tel: 617/495-1174
Fax: 617/384-9340
E-Mail: richard_zeckhauser@harvard.edu
AB  - Data on 2,355 married women from the 2006 China Health and Nutrition Survey are used to study how female employment affects fertility in China.  China has deep concerns with both population size and female employment, so the relationship between the two should be better understood. Causality flows in both directions. A conceptual model shows how employment prospects affect fertility. Then a well-validated instrumental variable isolates this effect. Female employment reduces a married woman’s preferred number of children by 0.35 on average and her actual number by 0.50.   Ramifications for China’s one-child policy are discussed.
ER  -