Old Age Security: Impacts of Social Security Systems on Households Fertility Decisions

The social security system is one of the biggest government public expenditures across countries with diverse influences on peoples daily lives. In this study, longitudinal household survey data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study are used to examine the influence of social security systems on households fertility decisions. Using the method of regression analysis, the impact of three types of social security systems are investigated: pensions, medical insurance, and reimbursements. It is found that social security systems significantly decrease the number of children per household. However, it does not affect households gender preferences and fails to achieve gender balance as reflected in the more-than-average number of male children across time. These findings afford valuable insights for the government in formulating social security policies while concurrently addressing the decreasing fertility rate in recent years.