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Female Jobs and Fertility: Long-term Experimental Evidence from Ethiopian Factories

Author

Listed:
  • Kotsadam, Andreas

    (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research)

  • Pieters, Janneke

    (Wageningen University)

  • Rossi, Pauline

    (CREST-École Polytechnique)

  • Villanger, Espen

    (Chr. Michelsen Institute)

  • Zipfel, Céline

    (House of Sustainable Society (HoSS))

  • Getahun, Tigabu

    (EconInsight Center for Development Research)

Abstract

We conducted an experiment with multiple factories in Ethiopia to test the widespread hypothesis that formal employment among women reduces fertility. Tracking respondents over eight years, we find that women who were randomly offered a job had more children than the control group. The effect on fertility emerged once the effect on wage employment faded away, around three years after baseline. There are clear effects on household income and savings, but not on bargaining power or marriage. These patterns are consistent with a Beckerian model in which the income effect dominates the substitution effect and households are credit constrained.

Suggested Citation

  • Kotsadam, Andreas & Pieters, Janneke & Rossi, Pauline & Villanger, Espen & Zipfel, Céline & Getahun, Tigabu, 2026. "Female Jobs and Fertility: Long-term Experimental Evidence from Ethiopian Factories," HoSS Working Paper Series 2026-6, Stockholm School of Economics, House of Sustainable Society (HoSS).
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hamisu:2026_006
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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