Do parents gain from bringing up and investing on children? This study shifts the traditional focus in economics of estimating returns to children from parental investments and analyses whether ageing parents benefit from their fertility choices. I instrument offspring size by exploiting gender preferences among Chinese households and address the endogeneity of parental investments by leveraging an extension to the minimum compulsory schooling period and the prohibition of hiring school-age children. In a context of low welfare provision and increasing returns to education, I find that while the quantity of children does not translate into better physical, mental, or cognitive health of parents at an old-age, the reform-induced increase in daughters’ education improved the physical and cognitive health of mothers, reducing the gender gap in health outcomes among older generations.
Presented by:
Paulino Font Gilabert, ISER PhD, University of Essex
Date & time:
March 4, 2020 12:30 pm
Venue:
ISER Large Seminar Room 2N2.4.16
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