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Fertility cost, intergenerational labor division, and female employment

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  • Yu, Haiyue
  • Cao, Jin
  • Kang, Shulong

Abstract

This paper considers the role of grandparental childcare in China's extraordinarily high female labor-market participation rate. Indeed, the high female labor-market participation and low labor-income penalty for childbirth is all the more remarkable given the lack of public subsidies for childcare. Using a novel and high-quality dataset, we find that childcare provided by retired grandparents significantly reduces the duration of career breaks for young women and helps women remain in the labor force. We further show that well-educated urban women benefit most from grandparental childcare, especially in the first three years of the child's life before there is a possibility to enter kindergarten.

Suggested Citation

  • Yu, Haiyue & Cao, Jin & Kang, Shulong, 2019. "Fertility cost, intergenerational labor division, and female employment," BOFIT Discussion Papers 14/2019, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofitp:bdp2019_014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    intergenerational labor division; grandparental childcare; female employment; human capital accumulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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