Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/282378 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 10690
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This chapter reviews the literature on the causal effects of policies on fertility. It focuses on evidence from experiments and quasi-experiments in low fertility contexts, including studies from Europe, Northern America, Oceania and Asia. Making no a priori restrictions on policy type, the review encompasses evaluations of parental leave, childcare, health insurance, and financial incentives such as child transfers. Childcare expansions increase completed fertility. Financial incentives had positive effects on fertility across contexts, both in the short and long run. Expansions of parental leave rights in Central Europe, and introduction of parental leave in the U.S., also had positive effects. Distributional effects of these policies are very different, with parental leave compensation benefiting high-earning couples, while expansions of child care programs have potential to reduce social inequalities.
Subjects: 
fertility
parental leave
cash transfers
childcare
healthcare
public policy
causal effect
JEL: 
J13
J18
H53
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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