Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250651 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14990
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
IVF allows women to delay birth and pursue careers, but IVF massively increases the risk of twin birth. There is limited evidence of how having twins influences women's post-birth careers. We investigate this, leveraging a single embryo transfer (SET) mandate implemented in Sweden in 2003, following which the share of twin births showed a precipitous drop of 70%. Linking birth registers to hospitalization and earnings registers, we identify substantial improvements in maternal and child health and women's earnings following IVF birth, along-side an increase in subsequent fertility. We provide the first comprehensive evaluation of SET, relevant given the secular rise in IVF births and growing concerns over twin birth risk. We contribute new estimates of the child penalty imposed by twin as opposed to singleton birth, relevant to the secular rise in the global twin birth rate.
Subjects: 
twins
IVF
single embryo transfer
career costs of children
child penalty
gender wage gap
fertility
maternal health
neonatal health
gender
JEL: 
J13
I11
I12
I38
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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