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More Schooling, More Children? Compulsory Schooling and Fertility in Europe

Author

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  • Margherita Fort
  • Nicole Schneeweis
  • Rudolf Winter-Ebmer

Abstract

We study the relationship between education and fertility, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms in England and Continental Europe, implemented between 1936 and 1975. We assess the causal effect of education on the number of biological children and the incidence of childlessness. We find surprising results for Continental Europe: the additional education generated by compulsory schooling expansions led to an increase in the number of biological children per woman and a decrease in childlessness. The results for England point in the opposite direction. Moreover, for the Continent we find that education during this time led to fewer women who remained unmarried over their life course. Our findings are robust to a number of sensitivity and falsification checks.

Suggested Citation

  • Margherita Fort & Nicole Schneeweis & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2014. "More Schooling, More Children? Compulsory Schooling and Fertility in Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 5068, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_5068
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    Cited by:

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    2. James, Jonathan & Vujić, Sunčica, 2019. "From high school to the high chair: Education and fertility timing," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1-24.
    3. Hamad, Rita & Elser, Holly & Tran, Duy C. & Rehkopf, David H. & Goodman, Steven N., 2018. "How and why studies disagree about the effects of education on health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies of compulsory schooling laws," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 168-178.
    4. Akar, Betul & Akyol, Pelin & Okten, Cagla, 2019. "Education and Prosocial Behavior: Evidence from Time Use Survey," IZA Discussion Papers 12558, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Thao Bui, 2023. "Compulsory education reform and child mortality in Peru," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(9), pages 1941-1963, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; fertility; causal effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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