Gender Power, Fertility, and Family Policy
نویسندگان
چکیده
The birth of children often shifts the power balance within a family. If family decisions are made according to the spouses' welfare function, this shift in power may lead to a time consistency problem. The allocation of resources after the birth of children may differ from the ex-ante optimal choice. In a model of cooperative decision making within a family, we show that this time consistency problem leads to a systematic downward bias in fertility choices. By keeping fertility low, families try to mitigate the ex-ante undesired shift in the power balance. This bias in fertility choices provides scope for welfare enhancing policy intervention. We discuss the extent to which existing measures in family policy are suitable to overcome the fertility bias. JEL-Classification: D13, H31, J13
منابع مشابه
P-133: The Influence of Gender Role and Women Empowerment on Fertility Experiences in Urban Society of Mashhad, Iran
Background: Iran has experienced a great variation in women status in recent years. There is a little information on how and why advancing gender equality and equity and the empowerment of women play a role in recent fertility reduction in the country. This study was conducted to gain an insight into the role of gender beliefs and women empowerment in couples’ experiences of fertility in Mashha...
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