Abstract: Does delaying age of first childbearing bring economic benefits to women? Previous studies have failed to reach a sufficient consensus. This paper argues that family's policy environment is the key factor to understand the impact of birth timing on women's labor market income. Different institutional environment has shaped the situation of women's human capital investment and its impact on women's career development and long-term economic income before and after childbearing. Based on the longitudinal data of 9 periods of “China Health and Nutrition Survey”, this study uses the Fixed Effect Models to test the impact of the postponement of age of first birth on women's labor market income under the special environment of China's fertility policy. Results suggest that late childbearing within a certain age range is conducive to the improvement of women's income level; women with urban household registration, higher education level, and first birth in the recent past can gain more rewards for late childbearing. From the perspective of economic rationality, this study provides another possible explanation for the delaying age of childbearing in China.

Keywords: Postponement of First Childbearing, Women's Labor Market Income, Family's Policy Environment, Temporal Effects

摘要： 推迟初育年龄的行为是否为女性带来经济收益？已有研究未能就此达成充分共识。家庭制度环境是理解生育时间对女性劳动力市场收入影响的关键因素，不同的制度环境形塑了生育行为发生前后女性的人力资本投入情况及其对职业生涯发展和长期经济收入的影响。基于“中国健康与营养调查”9期追踪数据，应用固定效应模型检验在中国特殊的家庭环境下，初育年龄推迟对女性劳动力市场收入的影响。研究发现，一定年龄范围内晚育有利于女性收入水平的提高；城镇户籍、受教育水平更高、初育行为发生在近期的女性能够收获更多的经济利好。这些结论从经济理性的视角为改革开放以来中国女性生育年龄不断推迟的人口学现象提供了另一条可能的解释路径。

关键词: 初育年龄推迟, 女性经济收入, 家庭政策环境, 时期效应