International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12
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 Volume 11, Issue 12 (December 2024), Pages: 56-65

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 Original Research Paper

Impact of adjusted fertility policies on household consumption patterns in China

 Author(s): 

 Chang Liu 1, *, Zixun Wang 1, Xiaomeng Lu 2

 Affiliation(s):

 1School of Economics, Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China
 2Survey and Research Center for China Household Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, China

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 * Corresponding Author. 

  Corresponding author's ORCID profile: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3885-7657

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2024.12.007

 Abstract

China's fertility policy adjustments have impacted family fertility decisions but have not reversed the declining birth rate, with economic pressures playing a significant role. This study utilized data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) and treated the implementation of China's "two-child" policy as a natural experiment. Using a propensity score matching-difference-in-differences model, the study analyzed data from four periods before and after the policy change to examine how having underage children and additional children affects household consumption behavior. The results indicate that household consumption increases with the number of children, as families with newborns experience higher overall consumption levels. The addition of a second child amplifies this effect, but per capita consumption expenditure decreases as family size grows. Differences in consumption patterns were observed between families with an additional first child and those with a second child. Furthermore, the impact of additional children on household consumption varies significantly depending on the family's education level. The study suggests that the government should design differentiated fertility policies tailored to family characteristics to reduce economic and childcare pressures and create a more supportive environment for family decision-making.

 © 2024 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Fertility policy, Household consumption, Two-child policy, Economic pressures, Family behavior

 Article history

 Received 24 July 2024, Received in revised form 5 November 2024, Accepted 17 November 2024

 Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China [22BJY236], "Research on the mechanism and path of releasing residents' consumption potential driven by business model innovation under the New Development Pattern."

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Liu C, Wang Z, and Lu X (2024). Impact of adjusted fertility policies on household consumption patterns in China. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 11(12): 56-65

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 Tables

 Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 Table 7 Table 8

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