生儿育女的福利效应:子女数量及其性别对父母幸福感的影响

孩子被认为能够为父母带来效用但实证结果却充满争议。中国的计划生育带来的生育数量限制是否带来了相应的福利代价?而生育孩子的性别构成是否对父母们的幸福感产生重要影响?基于中国综合社会调查微观数据的研究表明,是否为独生子女父母并不是影响幸福感的显著因素,但是女孩相比于男孩更有助于提高父母们的幸福感。这个结果在全样本、农村以及城市人口、不同受教育程度、中年人群中都是一样的。但孩子的数量和性别对年轻及老年父母的幸福感均没有显著影响。这些结果和养育成本、人们的生育意愿和生育行为变化以及男女的不同性别角色等都是有关的。

The Welfare Effects of Parenthood: Influence of number and gender of children to parents' well-being

Children are considered to be able to bring their parents utility but the empirical results are controversial. Whether China's family planning and children's gender would have a significant impact on parents' well-being? Based on the data of Chinese General Social Survey 2008, the study show that whether the one-child parents is not a significant factor affecting parents' happiness, but the girls are more helpful to improve the well-being of their parents compared to boys. These results are the same in the full sample, the rural and urban population, a different level of education, the middle-aged population. However, the number and gender of children have no significant effect on the well-being of young and old parents. The raising costs of fertility, changes in people's reproductive motives and behavior, and gender roles of boy and girl are all related to the conclusion.