Does Birth Spacing Affect Female Labor Market Participation? Evidence from Urban China

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of birth spacing on female labor market participation in urban China. Employing household panel surveys between 1989 and 2011 and exploiting variations in time intervals between the first and second child, we find that spacing births at longer intervals significantly increase female labor market participation. The effects of birth spacing are consistent across various specifications, which consider coresiding parents, working age, minority, children's age, and twin births. The heterogeneous analysis suggests that the effects of birth spacing are more pronounced in women with a daughter as the first birth, women with late first birth, and less-educated women. We examine underlying channels and document that women with longer birth intervals are likely to invest more in continued education and have better health status.