title: Do fertility control policies affect health in old age? Evidence from China's one-child experiment.
abstract: How do fertility control policies contribute to the welfare of women, and their husbands, particularly as they get older? We consider whether the reduction in fertility resulting from population control policies has had any effect on the health of elderly parents in China. In particular, we examine the influence of this fertility decline, experienced due to China's one-child policy, on several measures of the health of parents in middle and old age. Overall, our results suggest that having fewer children has a positive effect on self-reported parental health but generally no effect on other measures of health. The results also suggest that upstream financial transfers have a positive effect on several measures of parental health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, Monash University, Caulfield East, Australia.
authors.forename: Asadul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Islam
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smyth
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002681:China; D016656:Family Planning Policy; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D057766:Policy; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: China; children; one-child policy; parental health; sex preference