This paper investigates whether parental retirement affects individuals' fertility decisions. Using SHARE data on 11 European countries for the period 2004-2018, the analysis exploits the heterogeneity across countries to test if the effect varies depending on the generosity of public policies in support of families and on the strength of family ties.
The probability that adult individuals decide to have a child only increases significantly immediately after parental retirement in the Mediterranean countries, where family policies are less generous and family ties are stronger, plausibly thanks to the higher availability of informal childcare within the family.
