Freedom and Cradle: The Impact of Flexible Work on Chinese Women's Fertility Intention

ABSTRACT The phenomenon of low fertility rate in China is closely related to the work‐family conflict faced by women. In recent years, flexible work has gradually been regarded as an important measure to balance women's work‐family relationships and solve the current situation of low fertility rates. Employing China Labor‐force Dynamic Survey (CLDS) data from 2014 to 2018, this study utilizes the instrumental variable to test the relationship between flexible work and fertility intention empirically. We find that the higher the flexible work hours, the stronger the fertility intention of women of childbearing age. After excluding the influence of fertility policies, addressing endogeneity issues, and conducting robustness tests in different ways, this conclusion is still supported. Mechanism analysis indicates that flexible work is beneficial in alleviating women's work‐family conflicts, improving individual job satisfaction and life happiness, and thereby promoting an increase in fertility willingness. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of flexible work on fertility intention mainly affects groups engaged in the tertiary industry, state‐owned enterprises, full‐time employment, middle‐ and high‐income earners, married, and those with fertility experience. Further analysis reveals that the family's flexible work hours are beneficial in increasing women's willingness to have children, and flexible work also has a positive impact on actual fertility behavior.