Abstract:

Family fertility willingness is related to the long-term balanced development of the population. Our country faces a risk of low fertility, and the phenomenon of low fertility has become the norm. Most studies focus on the impact of fertility policies on the population and ignore the influence of education policies. Based on a survey of 10,341 primary and secondary school parents in 29 provinces (cities, districts) across the country, the research used the propensity score matching method empirically to test the impact of the “Double Reduction” policy influence on parents’ willingness to have more children and its influencing mechanism. The results found that increasing parents’ recognition of the “Double Reduction” policy in primary and secondary schools can significantly increase parents willingness to have more children. Parents who endorse the “Double Reduction” policy have a higher effect on their willingness to have more children, with an average of 14.6% higher. This result shows that the positive externalities of the “Double Reduction” policy have spilled over to the field of population, and the policy has a positive impact on family reproduction plans. Family education expenditure and educational anxiety mediate the role between parents’ recognition of the policy and parents’ willingness to have more children. Therefore, parents in primary and secondary schools should further improve their awareness of the policy, continue to increase the implementation of the policy, strengthen policy supporting governance, implement multi-level policies in the fields of education and population and fertility, and comprehensively and effectively improve the national rejuvenation fertility desire.

Key words: “Double Reduction” policy, re-fertility intention, impact effects, propensity score matching, chain mechanism