Does Female Labor Force Participation Affect the Timing and Level of Fertility Rate?: A Cross-Country Analysis

Abstract

Using a cross-section of 130 countries, this paper empirically examines the effectiveness of women’s mean age at first birth (AFB) as a transitional mechanism between female labor force participation (FLP) and fertility rate (TFR). In addition, the empirical analysis is conducted by sample selection based on the critical value of FLP, which implies the lowest impact of FLP on TFR using estimated coefficients. The empirical results are summarized as follows. First, there exists a U shaped relationship between FLP and TFR. Second, the positive and statistically significant impacts of FLP on AFB, and the negative and statistically significant impacts of FLP and AFB on TFR are found in the samples of 130 whole countries and countries that have higher level of FLP (bigger than the critical value of FLP). Third, the impact of FLP and AFB on TFR provide little evidence in the sample of countries that have a lower level of FLP (smaller than the critical value of FLP). Therefore, the empirical results suggest that the positive impact of FLP on AFB, and the negative impacts of FLP and AFB on TFR could be different based on each country’s economic environments.