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Educational Differences in Completed Fertility: A Behavioral Genetic Study of Finnish Male and Female Twins

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  • Jessica Nisén
  • Pekka Martikainen
  • Jaakko Kaprio
  • Karri Silventoinen

Abstract

Despite the large body of research on educational differences in fertility, how genetic and environmental influences may contribute to educational differences in completed fertility is not well understood. This study examines the association between educational level and completed fertility in a sample of Finnish male and female twins born between 1950 and 1957 with register-based fertility follow-up until 2009. The results show that poorly educated men and highly educated women are least likely to have any children and have lower completed fertility in general. Behavioral genetics analysis suggests that the association between education and having any children in both sexes is influenced by factors shared by co-twins and that these factors are genetic rather than common environmental. No evidence of a causal pathway between education and having any children independent of these shared influences is found. These findings suggest that familial factors may play a role in the process through which educational differences in completed fertility are formed. Copyright Population Association of America 2013

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  • Jessica Nisén & Pekka Martikainen & Jaakko Kaprio & Karri Silventoinen, 2013. "Educational Differences in Completed Fertility: A Behavioral Genetic Study of Finnish Male and Female Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1399-1420, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:50:y:2013:i:4:p:1399-1420
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-012-0186-9
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    4. Natalie Nitsche & Alessandra Trimarchi & Marika Jalovaara, 2020. "The power of two: second birth rate differences between couples with homogamous and heterogamous educational pairings," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-029, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Christine Schnor & Sofie Vanassche & Jan Van Bavel, 2017. "Stepfather or biological father? Education-specific pathways of postdivorce fatherhood," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(51), pages 1659-1694.
    6. Ridhi Kashyap & Julia Behrman, 2020. "Gender Discrimination and Excess Female Under-5 Mortality in India: A New Perspective Using Mixed-Sex Twins," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2143-2167, December.
    7. Francis Kramarz & Olof Rosenqvist & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2023. "How family background shapes the relationship between human capital and fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 235-262, January.
    8. Tropf, Felix C & Mandemakers, Jornt J, 2017. "Is the Association Between Education and Fertility Postponement Causal? The Role of Family Background Factors," OSF Preprints dqrrx, Center for Open Science.
    9. Renata Kyzlinková & Anna Šťastná, 2018. "Fatherhood in a Changing Society: Shifts in Male Fertility Patterns," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 23(2), pages 328-353, June.
    10. Natalie Nitsche & Anna Matysiak & Jan Bavel & Daniele Vignoli, 2018. "Partners’ Educational Pairings and Fertility Across Europe," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(4), pages 1195-1232, August.
    11. Kramarz, Francis & Nordström Skans, Oskar & Rosenqvist, Olof, 2019. "Skills, education and fertility -and the confounding impact of family background," Working Paper Series 2019:10, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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