Fertility outcomes and parental well-being in later life: Evidence from India

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bhat, Bilal Ahmad; Chatterjee, Esha; Thakur, Sounak
• 署名单位: Indian Institute of Technology System (IIT System); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kanpur; Indian Institute of Technology System (IIT System); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kanpur
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103535
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Older adults; Post-reproductive; son preference; life satisfaction; fertility; GENDER

摘要

We study the effect of fertility outcomes on parental well-being in post-reproductive ages. The context is India, where the gender of the firstborn is plausibly random, and parents with firstborn daughters end up having more daughters. For both women and men, we find that having a firstborn daughter leads to lower subjective life satisfaction and an increase in labor supply in their post-reproductive years. We present suggestive evidence that these results are plausibly driven by greater financial stress associated with marrying off daughters, and, for women, by the long-term effects of abortion and lower autonomy in households with firstborn daughters.