Fertility and Parental Labor Supply in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

This chapter discusses the effect of fertility—the timing, spacing, and number of births—on parental labor supply in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). A theoretical framework that is fitting for LMICs, rather than the classical theories that are based on the high-income country (HIC) setting, is explored. This chapter draws out the different mechanisms that explain the connection between adolescent childbearing and job type, birth intervals and time-use for labor force participation, and gender roles in terms of care and work and the unitary household. Tacit value judgments are clarified in this chapter as studies that are reviewed can implicitly equate paid work to empowerment, but this is not necessarily the case for either mother’s or father’s labor supply. The study of the connection of fertility and parental labor supply would benefit from an exploratory gender analysis and not asking the same empirical question of the effect of fertility on labor supply for mothers and fathers alike. Similarly, the exploration of ways to support parents in juggling fertility and labor supply is better suited to an examination of personal strategies than formal policies. The study of the effect of fertility on parental labor supply in LMICs requires a different approach from that taken in HICs as the same theories, empirical mechanisms, assumptions, and policy recommendations do not apply in LMICs as in HICs.