Another Mouth to Feed? The Effects of (In)Fertility on Malnutrition

Does high fertility contribute to child malnutrition in poor countries? We test this hypothesis using unanticipated fertility reductions caused by secondary infertility. Though not randomly assigned, we argue that infertility should be largely exogenous with respect to children's nutrition; or to the extent there is any correlation, we expect infertile couples to have less healthy children, biasing against our test. Using panel data from India, we find that children whose parents experience infertility are less likely to be underweight. The effects are large, and suggest that one-third of India's recent decline in malnutrition may be attributable to fertility reductions. (JEL codes: I15, J13, O15)