Abstract: This study examines changes in fertility and childbearing on the labor force participation of women in rural Bangladesh. Since fertility is endogenous to other decisions taken by the family, we separately identify the impact of changes in fertility on changes in work by taking advantage of a family-planning program selectively introduced in the district of Matlab. The family-planning program did have a significant impact on certain aspects of fertility; but contrary to much previous research, fertility has little or no impact on female labor force participation.