The effects of daycare center use on marital fertility in Japan

Abstract

Using data from the 2007 National Survey on Work and Family, this chapter analyzes the effects of daycare center use on marital fertility in Japan. The findings indicate a strong positive effect for women living in areas where there were no waiting lists for admission to daycare centers. For these women, using a daycare center increased the predicted probability of having a second child by 10 % points and of progressing to a third birth by 9% points. This effect was not significant, however, for women living in areas where there were waiting lists. The two-stage estimation results indicate that shortening waiting lists had little effect on fertility, which suggests that the areal differences in the results (areas with waiting lists versus areas without them) were not due to the waiting lists per se, but rather to other factors such as regional characteristics or women's employment status in those areas.