Does education affect fertility timing? Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract

This study investigates the causal effect of Taiwan's 1968 compulsory schooling laws (CSLs) on fertility timing for women using a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach. I demonstrate that the CSLs have delayed women's fertility timing. The estimates reveal that the CSLs reduced the probability of women having children for first and second births at a young age and increased the probability of having children at an older age for first and second births, implying an intertemporal substitution of childbirth for these births. My investigation of the mechanisms involved indicates that women delaying marriage drove this relationship. Overall, the findings indicate that the CSLs have significantly affected the fertility timing of women in Taiwan.