Education, Gender, and Family Formation

Hanna Virtanen, Mikko Silliman, Tiina Kuuppelomäki and Kristiina Huttunen

No 116, ETLA Working Papers from The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy

Abstract: Abstract In response to the wide-ranging consequences of falling fertility rates, governments across high-income countries are considering how to increase rates of family formation. Despite significant scientific interest, there remains limited empirical evidence on how education shapes family choices across the life cycle. We study the effect of educational attainment on family formation using regression discontinuity designs generated by centralized admissions processes to both secondary and tertiary education in Finland. At both margins, admission to further education increases the probability that women form families – i.e. have children or find a partner. For men, our point estimates are near zero for all outcomes, and sometimes negative. These results contrast a common perception that educational attainment makes it harder for women to form families and men more attractive as potential partners. The positive effects on female fertility may be attributed to education improving the compatibility of work and family. Additionally, as higher-order skills are increasingly important in the labor market, and parental inputs are important in shaping these skills, these results align with the notion that education may make women more attractive as potential spouses.

Keywords: Education; Gender; Family formation; Fertility; Cohabiting; Marriage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I26 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2024-02-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-gen and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-116.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Education, gender and family formation (2024)
Working Paper: Education, Gender, and Family Formation (2024)
Working Paper: Education, gender and family formation (2024)
Working Paper: Education, Gender, and Family Formation (2024)
Working Paper: Education, Gender, and Family Formation (2024)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rif:wpaper:116

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://www.etla.fi/ ... nd-family-formation/

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in ETLA Working Papers from The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Kaija Hyvönen-Rajecki ().