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Low Fertility of Highly Educated Women: The Impact of Child Care Infrastructure

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  • Schrage, Andrea

Abstract

Most studies of the negative correlation between fertility and education treat education as exogenously raising wages and the cost of child rearing, thus reducing fertility. I relax these assumptions in two respects. First, child costs don't increase with the value of time when external child care is used. Second, over a lifetime, education is endogenous. I model women's choice of education, fertility, and form of child care, allowing for economies of scale in parental child care. Compatibility between work and family duties increases labor supply, the demand for children of educated women, and enhances incentives for obtaining education. Die meisten Untersuchungen über den negativen Zusammenhang zwischen Kinderzahl und Ausbildung behandeln den Bildungsstand als exogene Größe, welche den Lohn und damit die Kosten der Kinderbetreuungs erhöht und die Fertilität reduziert. Zwei Annahmen werden in diesem Papier gelockert. Erstens steigen die Kinderkosten nicht mit dem Wert der Zeit wenn externe Kinderbetreuung in Anspruch genommen werden. Zweitens ist das Bildungsniveau in einer Lebenszeitbetrachtung endogen. Ich modelliere die Entscheidung einer Frau über ihre Bildung, Fertilität und Kinderbetreuungsform. Dabei werden auch Skalenerträge in der häuslichen Kinderbetreuung berücksichtigt. Bessere Vereinbarkeit zwischen beruflichen und familiären Verpflichtungen erhöht das Arbeitsangebot, die Nachfrage gebildeter Frauen nach Kindern, und die Anreize in Bildung zu investieren.

Suggested Citation

  • Schrage, Andrea, 2007. "Low Fertility of Highly Educated Women: The Impact of Child Care Infrastructure," University of Regensburg Working Papers in Business, Economics and Management Information Systems 421, University of Regensburg, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bay:rdwiwi:789
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    1. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Canuto, Otaviano & da Silva, Luiz Pereira, 2014. "On gender and growth: The role of intergenerational health externalities and women's occupational constraints," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 132-147.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Kinderbetreuungskosten ; Fertilität ; Bildungsplanung ; Arbeitsangebot; ; endogenous fertility ; child care ; education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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