When money matters. The impact of the bonus at birth on reproductive behaviour in a lowest-low fertility context: Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Italy) from 1989 to 2005.

The aim of this paper is to analyze whether monetary policies impacts fertility choices. The case-study is the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that between 2000-2004 implemented a generous “baby bonus” at birth for women with at least one child, having low or medium income. Using difference-indifference techniques (by means of graphical and multivariate analyses), this paper compares eligible women with the ones who did not receive the “baby bonus”, because they had not children or lived in other Italian regions. Results show that the “baby bonus” impacted fertility, mainly for poor Italian women with at least two children, although the impact over the total fertility of Friuli-Venezia Giulia was limited.