The effect of education on overall fertility

Philip DeCicca () and Harry Krashinsky
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Philip DeCicca: Ball State University

Journal of Population Economics, 2023, vol. 36, issue 1, No 16, 503 pages

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: Fertility; Education; Compulsory schooling; Earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J12 J13 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: The Effect of Education on Overall Fertility (2016)
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DOI: 10.1007/s00148-022-00897-y

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