Invited Seminar Talk

Educational Field and Fertility Decline in Finland in 2010-2019

Julia Hellstrand
Invited Seminar Talk, November 30, 2021

Julia Hellstrand from the University of Helsinki explains in her talk how she used Finnish register data to calculate total fertility rates in 2010-2019 for some 153 fields of education.

Abstract

Fertility declined sharply and unexpectedly in Finland in the 2010s. While studies identify fertility declines across all educational levels, information about differences in fertility declines across educational field is lacking. Previous research has shown that in the Nordic countries variation in fertility is usually larger between educational fields than between educational levels. Using Finnish register data Julia Hellstrand and colleagues calculated total fertility rates in 2010-2019 for some 153 fields of education, and estimated the impact of differences in characteristics of the fields on the fertility declines using regression models. All groups experienced a fertility decline since 2010, but the strength of the decline varied between the fields. In general, women with the highest fertility levels in 2010 (health, welfare, and education) and women in agriculture experienced weaker fertility declines, while women with the lowest fertility levels in 2010 (ICT and arts and humanities) experienced stronger fertility declines. The strength of the fertility decline increased with higher unemployment levels and lower income in the field, and decreased to some extent with female-dominated fields and fields in the public sector. The results imply that being educated in fields with stable job security has hindered very strong fertility declines, and that differences in fertility levels by field of education are likely to further diverge.

Register to Take Part

You would like to attend the Seminar Talk? You are very welcome. Please register by writing an e-mail to office-myrskyla@demogr.mpg.de.

Seminar Talk, November, 30h from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (Rostock time)