The effect of fertility on the decision of abandoning the labour market: the case of Spain

Abstract

Taking into account the negative relationship between fertility and female labour participation due to the necessity of dedicating more time to childcare, in this paper we analyse, with a logit model and using microdata from the Spanish Labour Force Survey, the effect of having a newly born child on the woman’s decision to abandon the labour market, considering household characteristics and other economic variables which affect their labour participation decision. Our results show that having a newborn increases the woman’s probability of abandoning the labour market. We also find that this probability is reduced if there are any grandparents living in the household.