Who is the “boss” in planning to have a baby? Fertility and household bargaining in China

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21876801
AutoresJie Ma (0000-0003-4415-6747, Xi'an Jiaotong University), Xiaojun Yang (0000-0002-6203-5773, Xi'an Jiaotong University, autor de correspondencia), Yuxuan Fei (Xi'an Jiaotong University)
Año2025
Volumen91
Número3
Páginas487-507
Fecha de publicación2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Demographic Economics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2054-0892 • E-ISSN: 2054-0906
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/dem.2025.2
OpenAlexW4408687178
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas30

Although fertility is typically regarded as a unitary family decision, a meaningful degree of disagreement in fertility willingness exists within households, especially for having two or more children. As China transitioned from a one-child to multiple-child policy, understanding how such disagreement affects fertility decisions is crucial. Using household data from the 2016 China Labor-force Dynamic Survey, we analyze fertility willingness in married couples. We find that over 10% of families disagree on having two or more children. Disagreement negatively impacts plans to have more children: only the husband wanting two children significantly reduces fertility plans compared to mutual agreement, while only the wife wanting two children does not suppress the plan. This is consistent with the wife's veto power in fertility decisions. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that more equal gender role and higher bargaining power contribute to the wife's veto power, offering insights into the mechanism of intra-household fertility decisions

Boss · Business · China · Economics · Environmental health · Family planning · Fertility · Labour economics · Political science · Population · Research methodology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Engineering · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Law · Medicine · Reproductive Health and Technologies