Premium
No More Babies without Help for Whom? Education, Division of Labor, and Fertility Intentions
Author(s) -
Cheng Yenhsin Alice,
Hsu ChenHao
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12672
Subject(s) - fertility , counterfactual thinking , division of labour , daughter , matching (statistics) , propensity score matching , psychology , demographic economics , economics , social psychology , demography , population , sociology , political science , medicine , pathology , law , market economy
Objective This study examines whether the impact of husbands' involvement in childcare and housework on wives' fertility intentions varies by wives' education in Taiwan. Background Recent research has pointed to the positive influence of a more egalitarian division of labor on wives' fertility intentions, yet existing literature often fails to examine educational variations in such linkages. Method This paper analyzed reports of time spent on domestic work (i.e., housework and childcare) for both spouses in the 2016 Women's Marriage, Fertility, and Employment Survey. The analytical sample included all married respondents with at least one child. Regression models and counterfactual analyses were adopted. Results The findings showed that husbands of tertiary‐educated wives shared more housework and childcare. Furthermore, wives' fertility intentions beyond parity‐one increased with more input from husbands in helping with childcare, but not housework sharing. This positive childcare‐sharing effect was particularly salient among tertiary‐educated wives—who tended to be more economically empowered and to have higher expectations for gender equality at home. Finally, counterfactual analyses using a propensity score matching method indicated that non‐tertiary‐educated wives would not increase their fertility intentions even if they had received more help from husbands. Conclusion Such educational variations have been little explored in past theory and research. Pro‐natalist policies aiming to boost fertility will likely attain optimal effectiveness if different combinations of parental‐leave and financial aid packages are offered to women with varying education. This study also contributes to the limited research on how division of labor affects fertility intentions in East Asia.