| Population,as an important factor affecting the sustainable economic development of China,is fundamental to social development.The population issue is a major topic of fundamental,global,long-term and strategic importance.At present,China’s fertility level is under great pressure,and the declining birth rate leads to the imbalance of population structure,the increase of population dependency ratio,aging and other prominent problems,which leads to the weakening of the vitality of national economic development and the power of social development,and the increasingly heavy economic and social burden.In the stage of fertility decline,fertility intention is highly correlated with fertility rate,and the low fertility intention is one of the important reasons why China is caught in the "low fertility trap".In the context of fierce competition in the labor market,the urban employed population,as participants in the labor market and the "main force" of fertility,has to continuously improve their human capital to cope with the challenge of high employment pressure and face the burden of childbirth and childcare.This paper focuses on the impact of employment status on the fertility intention of the urban population and provides useful ideas to explore the institutional environment that can help balance work and family,improve the supporting facilities of fertility policy,and enhance fertility level in China.Based on the background of low fertility rate and high employment pressure in China,this paper selects data from the 2017 China Integrated Social Survey to analyze the influence of employment status on the urban population’s fertility intention in terms of working hours and flexibility,labor income,and its stability.The article firstly provides a brief description of the concept of urban population and fertility intention,theories of child quantity and quality substitution theory,work-family role conflict,and fertility cost and utility.Secondly,the basic situation of the urban population is described from the perspectives of individual characteristics and employment status,based on the differences in fertility intention of the urban population with different characteristics are analyzed.Again,this paper analyze the influence mechanism of employment status on the urban population’s fertility intention by applying relevant theories,putting forward research hypotheses,and using OLS regression models to empirically test the influence of employment status on the urban population’s fertility intention.The results of data analysis revealed that working hours are negatively correlated with fertility intentions,and job autonomy,in other words,the degree of flexibility of employed people in disposing of their time at work,also affects the fertility intentions of the urban population,and people with full autonomy at work have higher fertility intentions.In terms of labor income and its stability,the annual personal labor income is inversely J-shaped with the fertility intention of the urban population,and among employed people with labor contracts,the higher the stability of their labor income,the stronger their fertility intention.In addition,heterogeneity analysis shows that there are gender,age,and marital status differences in the effect of employment status on the fertility intention of the population,in other words,the fertility intention of women,youth,and unmarried groups are more affected by employment status.Finally,based on the above findings,the paper propose policy recommendations such as promoting flexible employment and flexible work,building a multi-level childcare service system,reducing the cost of childbirth,and encouraging paternal participation,to improve the population’s willingness to have children and promote the effective implementation of the "three-child" policy. |
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