This paper examines the e?ect of fertility on parental labor-force participation in a developing country. In order to address the potential endogeneity in the fertility decision, I exploit Albanian parental preference for having sons as an exogenous source of variation. Using a repeated cross-section, I ?nd that having an additional child has a positive and statistically signi?cant e?ect on parental labor-force participation. IV estimates for mothers show that they increase labor supply, especially in terms of hours worked per week and the likelihood of working o?-farm. Similarly, father’s likelihood of working o?-farm and having a second occupation increase as a consequence of further childbearing. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that this positive e?ect might be the result of two plausible mechanisms: childcare provided by non-parental adults in extended families and greater ?nancial costs of feeding more children.