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- Title
Education, labour, and the demographic consequences of birth postponement in Europe.
- Authors
d'Albis, Hippolyte; Greulich, Angela; Ponthière, Grégory
- Abstract
BACKGROUND This article questions the demographic consequences of birth postponement in Europe. OBJECTIVE Starting from the fact that there is no obvious link between the timing of first births and fertility levels in Europe, we find that under certain circumstances, birth postponement potentially facilitates rather than impedes starting a family. METHODS We apply a synthetic cohort approach and distinguish between different socioeconomic determinants of the timing of first births by using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). Data is compiled specifically to reduce endogeneity and to eliminate structure effects. RESULTS We find that the probability of becoming a mother is higher for women who postpone first childbirth due to education and career investment than for women who postpone due to unrealized labour market integration. CONCLUSION Educated and economically active women certainly postpone first childbirth in comparison to women who are less educated and who are not working, but they end up with a higher probability of starting a family.
- Subjects
EDUCATION &; demography; CHILDBIRTH; HUMAN fertility; SOCIOECONOMICS; INCOME statistics
- Publication
Demographic Research, 2017, Vol 36, p691
- ISSN
1435-9871
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.23