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Parental retirement and fertility decisions across family policy regimes

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  • Edoardo Frattola

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether parental retirement affects the timing of adult couples' fertility decisions and whether the effect is heterogeneous across family policy regimes in Europe. I use SHARE data for the period 2004-2018 and consider 11 countries belonging to three different regimes (Continental, Mediterranean and Nordic). Results from a RDD on a balanced panel of dynasties suggest that parental retirement has a significant and positive causal effect only in Mediterranean countries, where it is driven by an increase in the availability of informal childcare. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that parental support matters more in countries with weaker family policies and stronger family ties, and hint that increases in retirement age might have unintended negative consequences on fertility rates in Southern Europe through an effect on the timing of fertility.

Suggested Citation

  • Edoardo Frattola, 2023. "Parental retirement and fertility decisions across family policy regimes," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1417, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1417_23
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    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/temi-discussione/2023/2023-1417/en_tema_1417.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    retirement; fertility; grandparents; informal childcare; SHARE;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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