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The effect of education on overall fertility

Author

Listed:
  • Philip DeCicca

    (Ball State University
    National Bureau of Economic Research)

  • Harry Krashinsky

    (University of Toronto)

Abstract

Fertility rates have long been falling in many developed countries, while educational attainment in those countries has risen. We attempt to reconcile these two trends with a novel application of two recent models to generate plausibly causal effects of education that can explain these decreases in fertility. Using Canadian data, we exploit changes in compulsory schooling laws to find that education “compresses” the fertility distribution—women are more likely to have at least one child but less likely to have multiple children. We demonstrate that the mechanism for this effect is the positive impact of education on earnings and marriage.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip DeCicca & Harry Krashinsky, 2023. "The effect of education on overall fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 471-503, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:36:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s00148-022-00897-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-022-00897-y
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    Cited by:

    1. Sala Adrian Lucian, 2019. "Effects Of Education On Birth Rates In Romania," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 3, pages 174-181, June.
    2. Bhalotra, Sonia & Venkataramani, Atheendar & Walther, Selma, 2018. "Fertility and labor market responses to reductions in mortality," ISER Working Paper Series 2018-15, Institute for Social and Economic Research.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fertility; Education; Compulsory schooling; Earnings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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