Reproductive Burden and Its Impact on Female Labor Market Outcomes in India: Evidence from Longitudinal Analyses

Abstract

AbstractWe use nationally representative data from two waves of the Indian Human Development Survey to examine the role of inter-temporal changes in fertility behavior in influencing female labor market outcomes. Our multivariate regression estimates show that an increase in the number of children reduces labor force participation and earnings. We further investigated the impact of fertility changes on transitions from the labor market. The results show that women who had more than three children in both rounds of the survey had a 3.5% points higher probability of exiting from the labor market than their counterparts with two or fewer children net of other socio-demographic factors. Disaggregated analyses by caste, economic, educational status, and region show that the probability of dropping out of the labor market due to fertility changes varies by region and is greater for non-poor and primary to secondary schooling women and those from socially disadvantaged castes than poor, non-educated, and socially advantageous women.