An Analysis of the Possibility of Making the Decision to Have no Children : Focusing on the Influence of Childbirth on Women's Employment

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the decision to have fewer children, especially the decision to have no children, using the models in which the influence of childbirth on the women's employment is considered. In previous studies, the change in the state and conditions of women's employment generated by childbirth has been neglected. In contrast,in our models the loss of lifetime income and wage caused by childbirth is considered. The reason for considering this is because in Japan many women quit their jobs upon childbirth, and even if getting jobs again, the conditions are usually worse, so childbirth has a very negative effect on women's employment. Therefore it is indispensable to the analysis of low fertility to consider these influences. Our models follow Becker(1965), but considering that, the cost of a child -budget constraint- is different in other studies. In our models, therefore, there exists a case where parents decide to have no children. Our models show that, as the loss of lifetime income or wage increases, there is a stronger possibility of making the decision to have no children. That is to say, our models prove the very low fertility in Japan more accurately than other models. Our models lead to the conclusion that for the increase in fertility rate it is important to reduce the influence of childbirth on the women's employment.