Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

No 2008:29: Cheaper child care, more children

Eva Mörk (), Anna Sjögren () and Helena Svalelryd
Additional contact information
Eva Mörk: IFAU - Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Postal: P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Anna Sjögren: IFAU - Insitute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Postal: P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden
Helena Svalelryd: IFN, Postal: Box 55665 , SE-102 15 Stockholm , Sweden

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Child care; Cost of children; Fertility; Quasi-experiment; Difference-in-differences

JEL-codes: H31; J13

39 pages, December 7, 2008

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Published as
Eva Mörk, Anna Sjögren and Helena Svalelryd, (2013), 'Childcare costs and the demand for children—evidence from a nationwide reform', Journal of Population Economics, vol 26, no 1, pages 33-65

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