Childcare Costs and the Demand for Children: Evidence from a Nationwide Reform

Arbeitspapier

We study the effect of child care costs on the fertility behavior of Swedish women and find that reductions in child care charges influence fertility decisions, even when costs are initially highly subsidized. Exploiting the exogenous variation in child care costs caused by a Swedish child care reform, we are able to identify the causal effect of child care costs on fertility in a context in which child care enrolment is almost universal and the labor force participation of mothers is very high. A typical household planning another child experienced a reduction in expected future child care costs of SEK 106,000 (USD 17,800). This reduction resulted in 3–5 more child births per 1,000 women during an 18 month period, which corresponds to a 4–6 per cent increase in the birth rate.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 782

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
• Subject: Child Care ; Cost of children ; Fertility ; Quasi-experiment ; Difference-indifferences ; Familienplanung ; Familienpolitik ; Kinderbetreuung ; Subvention ; Fertilität ; Schweden

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Mörk, Eva ; Sjögren, Anna ; Svaleryd, Helena
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
• (where): Stockholm
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/81320
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET