Higher education and fertility: Evidence from reforms in Greece

Yiannis Kountouris

Economics of Education Review, 2020, vol. 79, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of higher education on women’s fertility decisions. To address the endogeneity of non-compulsory education participation, I focus on an increase in the supply of higher education and a concurrent schooling reform that jointly expanded higher education opportunities in Greece in year 2000. Drawing data from the 10% sample of the 2011 Population Census, I use the exogenous variation introduced by the first grade enrollment age cutoff to apply a Regression Discontinuity Design comparing educational attainment and fertility for women that were just, and just not exposed to the reforms. The probability of giving birth before age 30 decreases by around 20 percentage points for women who completed higher education because they were exposed to the reforms. Career outcomes for employed women with higher education improve, while fertility decreases at ages following graduation, suggesting that the result is primarily driven by the increasing opportunity cost of children.

Keywords: Higher education; Fertility; Regression discontinuity design; Demand for schooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I23 I26 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:79:y:2020:i:c:s0272775720305458

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2020.102059

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