Regional Childcare Availability and Individual Reproductive Behavior: A Multilevel Analysis of Second Births in Japan

Kenji Kamata, National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, Japan

This study examines how the regional employment environment and childcare context affect individual reproductive behavior using multilevel modeling. Individual level data is sourced from the 14th National Fertility Survey and is combined with regional level data for female (aged 20-39 years) employment rate, childcare coverage rate, the potential availability of childcare rate, and public and private childcare facility ratio. I analyze the determinants of the timing of the second births. The results of the multilevel analyses suggest that regional level female employment and potential accessibility of childcare rate are positively related to the timing of the second birth at the regional block level. In the prefecture level, regional level childcare coverage rate is positively related, but female employment does not appear. In all models, random effects (between regions) are detected. Therefore, such models must be estimated by considering variations among regions.