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Trends in Childlessness Among Highly Educated Men in Sweden

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  • Margarita Chudnovskaya

    (Stockholm University)

Abstract

Among men with post-secondary degrees in Sweden, one in four are childless by age 45, and this level has been constant over time (in this study, for men born 1956–1972). This high level of childlessness is somewhat surprising in the context of a significant gender imbalance among the highly educated (and thus the relative scarcity of highly educated men). In this study, I examine differences in childlessness among the highly educated by studying how educational prestige, social class, and income are associated with the likelihood of becoming a father. Higher income and social class background are positively associated with fatherhood, and this association has not changed over time. Educational prestige (higher degrees, or degrees from traditional universities) is not positively associated with fatherhood, while 2-year degrees have become more positively associated with fatherhood over time. The findings of this study suggest that socioeconomic resources are important for men's family formation in Sweden compared to educational resources, contrary to expectations from educational homophily and partner market perspectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Margarita Chudnovskaya, 2019. "Trends in Childlessness Among Highly Educated Men in Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(5), pages 939-958, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:35:y:2019:i:5:d:10.1007_s10680-018-9511-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-018-9511-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Kolk & Kieron J. Barclay, 2020. "Do income and marriage mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and fertility? Data from Swedish taxation and conscriptions registers for men born 1951-1967," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-010, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Valentina Tocchioni & Anna Rybińska & Monika Mynarska & Anna Matysiak & Daniele Vignoli, 2022. "Life-Course Trajectories of Childless Women: Country-Specific or Universal?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(5), pages 1315-1332, December.
    3. Florianne C. J. Verkroost & Christiaan W. S. Monden, 2022. "Childlessness and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Is There Evidence for a U-shaped Pattern?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(3), pages 319-352, August.
    4. Elitsa Dimitrova & Tatyana Kotzeva, 2022. "Contested Parenthood: Attitudes Toward Voluntary Childlessness as a Life Strategy in Post‐Socialist Bulgaria," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(3), pages 172-183.
    5. Kieron Barclay & Martin Kolk, 2020. "The Influence of Health in Early Adulthood on Male Fertility," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(4), pages 757-785, December.
    6. Kolk, Martin & Barclay, Kieron, 2021. "Do income and marriage mediate the relationship between cognitive ability and fertility? Data from Swedish taxation and conscriptions registers for men born 1951–1967," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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