Intl. Conference on Economics, Finance & Business, Paris

THE IMPACT OF JOB FLEXIBILITY ON HOUSEHOLD FERTILITY AND LABOR SUPPLY DECISIONS

ZIXIAO YANG

Abstract:

This paper studies the impact of job flexibility on household fertility and employment choices. I divide job flexibility into two components: human capital loss due to changes in employment status and costs from balancing family and employment responsibilities. In the theoretical research section, this study constructs a dynamic model, taking the two types of job flexibility as the main parameters, and observes the changes in steady-state values of family fertility and employment choices under different parameter conditions. Simulation results indicate that when defining job flexibility in terms of human capital loss, higher flexibility leads to an increase in fertility rates and a decrease in the proportion of high-flexible employment within families. However, opposite conclusions are drawn when job flexibility is defined as compatibility between family and work. In the empirical research section, this study estimates the number of children and weekly working hours using microdata. Various explanatory variables are correlated with the two types of job flexibility. The conclusions of the empirical study are broadly consistent with those of the theoretical research.

Keywords: Fertility, Job flexibility, Human capital, Labor supply