PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cáceres-Delpiano, Julio
TI  - The Impacts of Family Size on Investment in Child Quality
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.XLI.4.738
DP  - 2006 Oct 02
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 738--754
VI  - XLI
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XLI/4/738.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XLI/4/738.full
SO  - J Hum Resour2006 Oct 02; XLI
AB  - Using multiple births as an exogenous shift in family size, I investigate the impact of the number of children on child investment and child well-being. Using data from the 1980 US Census Five-Percent Public Use Micro Sample, 2SLS results demonstrate that parents facing a change in family size reallocate resources in a way consistent with Becker’s Quantity & Quality model. A larger family generated by twins in a later birth reduces the likelihood that older children attend private school, reduces the mother’s labor force participation, and increases the likelihood that parents divorce. The impact of family size on a measure of child outcome, such as grade retention, is less clear. The results indicate that for both measures of child investment and child well-being, the 2SLS estimates are statistically distinguishable from OLS estimates, indicating an omitted variables bias in the single equation model.