Impact of foreign domestic workers on the fertility decision of households: evidence from Hong Kong
Impact of foreign domestic workers on the fertility decision of households: evidence from Hong Kong
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DOI：
10.1017/dem.2021.33
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发表时间：
2021-12
影响因子：
1.3
通讯作者：
Nobuyuki Nakamura;A. Suzuki
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Nobuyuki Nakamura;A. Suzuki
低生育率的一个潜在解决方案是雇用外国家庭佣工（FDW），他们取代育儿和家务劳动，从而降低育儿成本。最近的研究认为，低技能外国工人流入托儿部门影响生育选择。然而，这些研究主要使用当地是否有外籍家政工人作为因果推论，并侧重于西方国家，因此难以确定个别直接影响或将研究结果推广到其他国家。为了弥补这一研究空白并研究其影响，本研究使用了香港人口普查的住户数据。采用普通最小二乘法，逆概率加权回归调整，和工具变量的方法，我们发现，家庭雇用住在外籍家政工人生育更多的孩子。此外，异质性分析表明，妇女对家庭收入的贡献比例较大，对家庭雇用外籍家政工人后的生育反应产生积极影响。
Abstract A potential solution to low fertility is the employment of foreign domestic workers (FDWs), who substitute child-rearing and housework duties, thus reducing child-rearing costs. Recent studies argue that the flow of low-skilled foreign workers into the childcare sector influences fertility choice. However, these studies mainly use the availability of FDWs in the local area as the causal inference and focus on Western countries, making it difficult to identify individual direct effects or generalize the findings to other countries. To bridge this research gap and examine the impacts, this study uses household data from the Hong Kong census. Employing ordinary least squares, the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment, and the instrumental variable approach, we find that households that employ live-in FDWs give birth to more children. Moreover, the heterogeneous analysis reveals that women's greater proportional contribution to household income has a positive impact on households' fertility response after employing the FDWs.