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Immigrant supply of marketable child care and native fertility in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • R.D. MARIANI

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

  • F. C. ROSATI

    (University of Rome Tor Vergata)

Abstract

The availability of child-care services has often been advocated as one of the instruments to counter the fertility decline observed in many high-income countries. In the recent past, large inflows of low-skilled migrants have substantially increased the supply of child-care services. In this paper, we examine if immigration has actually affected fertility exploiting the natural experiment occurred in Italy in 2007, when a large inflow of migrants—many of them specialized in the supply of child care—arrived unexpectedly. With a difference-in-differences method, we show that immigrant female workers have increased native births by a number that ranges roughly from 2% to 4%. We validate our result by the implementation of an instrumental variable approach and several robustness tests, all concluding that the increase in the supply of child-care services by immigrant women has positively affected native fertility.

Suggested Citation

  • R.D. Mariani & F. C. Rosati, 2022. "Immigrant supply of marketable child care and native fertility in Italy," JODE - Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(4), pages 503-533, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:ctl:louvde:v:88:y:2022:i:4:p:503-533
    DOI: 10.1017/dem.2021.28
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    Cited by:

    1. Rama Dasi Mariani & Alessandra Pasquini & Furio Camillo Rosati, 2023. "The Immigration Puzzle in Italy: A Survey of Evidence and Facts," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(1), pages 85-116, March.
    2. Rannveig Hart & Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Wookun Kim, 2023. "Causal Analysis of Policy Effects on Fertility," Departmental Working Papers 2309, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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