Abstract
Under the global concern of an aging population, policies aimed at increasing fertility rates in countries can potentially have negative impacts on female labor market outcomes. This study specifically examines the impact of China’s 2013 Selective Two-Child Policy on female labor force participation and income. Using the Difference-in-Difference (DID) method, both short-run analysis (2012 and 2014 dataset) and long-run analysis (2012, 2014, and 2016 datasets) consistently demonstrate that the policy had no significant effects on female labor participation and income. These results are robust under the restricted parallel trend assumption. My results are robust under the restricted parallel trend assumption. This finding suggests that China’s 2013 Selective Two-Child Policy may be ineffective in increasing fertility rate. Furthermore, the limited impact of childbearing on female income can be attributed to the substantial support provided by grandparents in childcare responsibilities.