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Career, Family, and IVF: The Impact of Involuntary Childlessness and Fertility Treatment

Author

Listed:
  • Martinenghi, Fabio I.

    (University of Newcastle, Australia)

  • Naghsh Nejad, Maryam

    (University of Technology, Sydney)

Abstract

We use whole-population linked administrative data from Australia to ex- amine the economic and mental health impacts of IVF treatment and invol- untary childlessness. Leveraging detailed information on fertility treatment, income, and prescription drug use, we implement a dynamic triple-difference framework comparing women who remain childless five years after initiating IVF to those who successfully conceive. Results reveal large and persistent effects on both mental health and income. We further show that the IVF process itself leads to income declines among childless women, underscoring substantial unmeasured costs and suggesting downward bias in child penalty estimates that use unsuccessful IVF patients as controls.

Suggested Citation

  • Martinenghi, Fabio I. & Naghsh Nejad, Maryam, 2025. "Career, Family, and IVF: The Impact of Involuntary Childlessness and Fertility Treatment," IZA Discussion Papers 17965, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17965
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    involuntary childlessness; IVF; mental health; labor market outcomes; fertility and career trade-offs;
    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
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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