Replication Data for: Fertility Restrictions and Life-Cycle Outcomes: Evidence from the One-Child Policy in China

This study considers the experience of China’s one-child policy to examine how fertility restrictions affect economic and social outcomes over a lifetime. The one-child policy imposed a birth quota and heavy penalties for “out-of-plan” births. Using variations in these penalties across provinces and over time, this study examines how fertility restrictions imposed early in the lives of individuals affected their educational attainment, marriage and fertility decisions, and economic outcomes later in life. Exposure to stricter fertility restrictions when young leads to higher education levels, more white-collar jobs, delayed marriage, and lower fertility rates. Further consequences include lower rates of residing with the elderly, and higher household income, consumption, and savings. Finally, exposure to stricter fertility restrictions in early life increases female empowerment, as measured by an increase in the fraction of households headed by women, female-oriented consumption, and gender-equal opinions. Overall, fertility restrictions imposed when people are young have powerful effects throughout their life cycle.