Family first: the causal effect of family size on cultural participation

Abstract Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we estimate how having children affects parents’ participation in arts, high- and lowbrow cultural activities, and sports. Identification combines three complementary, well-established strategies: (i) an event-study design around first births; (ii) twin births as exogenous shocks to second and third births; and (iii) sex-composition preferences as an exogenous driver of third births. Following first births, average participation falls by 13–54%, with event-study dynamics showing large short-run drops and a slow, incomplete recovery within ten years. We also document pronounced gender heterogeneity: mothers experience larger immediate declines, while fathers are more affected on the extensive margin (any participation). By contrast, effects of second and third births are mixed; when present, they are modest and tend to fade as children age.