Spain’s Persistent Negative Educational Gradient in Fertility

A trend towards a reversal of the negative educational gradient in fertility has been detected in some advanced societies, although the end of this inverse relationship is far from being generalized across developed countries. Previous analyses have shown that, for most of the twentieth century, Spain exhibited the steady negative educational gradients in fertility that characterize the low-fertility demographic regimes in Southern Europe. This report presents data collected on the period fertility of Spanish women between 2007 and 2017 and tests for the persistence of educational gradients in their recent reproductive behavior. Using data taken from Spanish administrative registers and standard period indicators of fertility, evidence is offered that proves that a negative educational gradient in fertility continues to exist in the country in accordance with the historical experience of cohorts born during the first decades of the twentieth century. This negative gradient implies significant differences in fertility between educational categories and affects both quantum and tempo. Moreover, the educational differentials in fertility not only persisted during the observed years but probably widened.