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Baby bonus, anyone? Examining heterogeneous responses to a pro-natalist policy

Author

Listed:
  • Natalie Malak

    (The University of Alabama in Huntsville)

  • Md Mahbubur Rahman

    (McMaster University)

  • Terry A. Yip

    (McMaster University)

Abstract

We examine the impact of the Allowance for Newborn Children, a universal baby bonus offered by the Canadian province of Quebec, on birth order, sibship sex composition, income, and education. We find a large response for third- and higher-order births for which the bonus was more generous. Interestingly, though, we find stronger response if there were two previous sons or a previous son and daughter rather than two previous daughters. We also find, in addition to a transitory effect, a permanent effect, with the greatest increase in one daughter-two son families among three-child households. Moreover, we find a hump shape response by income group, with the greatest response from middle-income families. Also, women with at least some post-secondary education respond more to the policy than those with less. These findings suggest that properly structured pro-natal policies can successfully increase fertility among different segments of the population while simultaneously diminishing the effect of gender preferences and fertility disparity related to women’s education.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalie Malak & Md Mahbubur Rahman & Terry A. Yip, 2019. "Baby bonus, anyone? Examining heterogeneous responses to a pro-natalist policy," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1205-1246, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:32:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s00148-019-00731-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-019-00731-y
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    Cited by:

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    2. Musab Kurnaz & Terry A. Yip, 2022. "The Canadian income taxation: Statistical analysis and parametric estimates," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(1), pages 272-311, February.
    3. Cheng-Tao Tang & Chun Yee Wong & Ayush Batzorig, 2022. "Do Financial Incentives on High Parity Birth Affect Fertility? Evidence from the Order of Glorious Mother in Mongolia," Working Papers EMS_2022_01, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    4. Damian Clarke & Gustavo Cortés Méndez & Diego Vergara Sepúlveda, 2020. "Growing together: assessing equity and efficiency in a prenatal health program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 883-956, July.
    5. Rannveig Kaldager Hart & Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Wookun Kim, 2023. "Causal Analysis of Policy Effects on Fertility," CESifo Working Paper Series 10690, CESifo.
    6. Choo, Dahae & Jales, Hugo, 2021. "Childbearing and the distribution of the reservation price of fertility: The case of the Korean baby bonus program," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Sergi Sánchez-Coll, 2023. "Born this way: the effect of an unexpected child benefit at birth on longer-term educational outcomes," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 105-141, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fertility; Baby bonus; Fertility incentive; Sex composition; Difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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