Fertility Decisions and the Sustainability of Defined Benefit Pay-as-You-Go Pension Systems

The sustainability of a defined benefit pay-as-you-go (DBPAYG) pension system is investigated in the context of an overlapping-generations model of endogenous fertility with heterogeneous agents. The model places particular emphasis on the time costs of child rearing. It illustrates the mechanism by which such a pension system can increase the opportunity cost of having children and hence sow the seeds of its own destruction. The model is then extended to allow for fertility-based payments. Such a system is more likely to be sustainable. The model highlights a number of issues that are of relevance to a number of OECD countries that have generous DBPAYG pension systems and falling fertility rates.