abstract: 'The prevalence of chronic conditions among children has been rising in

  the past four decades. Despite the policy relevance and plausible

  mechanisms through which child disability and severe early life health

  conditions can impact subsequent maternal reproductive behavior, there

  has been limited investigation of this question particularly in the US.

  Child disability or severe early life health problems such as very

  preterm birth (VPTB) and very low birth weight (VLBW) can constrain

  household resources to have another child but may also increase parental

  demand for healthy children and modify allocation of resources between

  children. Empirical assessment of this question is complicated by

  unobservables such as maternal health and preferences. We examine

  whether giving birth to a child with disabilities or severe adverse

  birth outcomes including VPTB and VLBW impacts subsequent maternal

  fertility. We employ a mother fixed-effect duration model for maternal

  fertility over time as a function of the proportion of previously born

  children with disabilities/health conditions in order to account for

  time-invariant unobservables, using merged data from the 1993 National

  Health Interview Survey and 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. We

  find no evidence that having disabled children reduces subsequent live

  births when using the mother fixed-effect model, in contrast to the

  classical model using within and between mother variation which suggests

  a fertility decline. Similarly, we find no evidence that having VPTB or

  VLBW children reduces fertility. Overall, our findings indicate no

  impact of child disability or health conditions on subsequent maternal

  fertility. Additional analyses excluding women who may qualify for AFDC

  show overall a similar pattern of results, suggesting that the findings

  may be generalizable post the AFDC. Time-varying unobservables may still

  be at work, but they likely result in an opposite (negative) bias toward

  reduction in fertility.'
affiliation: 'Wehby, GL (Corresponding Author), Natl Bur Econ Res, Cambridge, MA 02138
  USA.

  Wehby, GL (Corresponding Author), Univ Iowa, Dept Hlth Management \& Policy, 145
  N Riverside Dr,100 Coll Publ Hlth Bldg, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.

  Wehby, GL (Corresponding Author), Univ Iowa, Dept Econ, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.

  Wehby, George L.; Hockenberry, Jason M., Natl Bur Econ Res, Cambridge, MA 02138
  USA.

  Wehby, George L., Univ Iowa, Dept Hlth Management \& Policy, 145 N Riverside Dr,100
  Coll Publ Hlth Bldg, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.

  Wehby, George L., Univ Iowa, Dept Econ, Iowa City, IA 52242 USA.

  Hockenberry, Jason M., Emory Univ, Rollins Sch Publ Hlth, Dept Hlth Policy \& Management,
  Atlanta, GA 30322 USA.'
author: Wehby, George L. and Hockenberry, Jason M.
author-email: 'george-wehby@uiowa.edu

  jason.hockenberry@emory.edu'
author_list:
- family: Wehby
  given: George L.
- family: Hockenberry
  given: Jason M.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1007/s11150-015-9311-z
eissn: 1573-7152
files: []
issn: 1569-5239
journal: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS OF THE HOUSEHOLD
keywords: 'Disability; Child health; Fertility; Intergenerational effects;

  Disparities; Household economics'
keywords-plus: 'UNITED-STATES; ADULT HEALTH; BIRTH-WEIGHT; MOTHERS; EMPLOYMENT; DIVORCE;

  QUALITY; DISEASE'
language: English
month: SEP
number: '3'
number-of-cited-references: '37'
pages: 995-1016
papis_id: 5d784a43904d9589cc7ce74323d03b98
ref: Wehby2017impactchild
times-cited: '4'
title: Impact of child health and disability on subsequent maternal fertility
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000404928000013
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '8'
volume: '15'
web-of-science-categories: Economics
year: '2017'