Laboratory
Fertility and Well-Being
At a Glance
Projects
Publications
Team
Project
Socioeconomic Differentials in Fertility and Family Formation Processes
Julia Hellstrand, Jessica Nisén, Andres Castro, Natalie Nitsche, Mikko Myrskylä, Ewa Batyra; in Collaboration with Ben Wilson, Sebastian Klüsener (both: MPIDR)
Detailed Description
In most developed countries, higher educated women tend to have fewer children than their lower educated counterparts. However, the negative gradient by education differs by socioeconomic contexts and has even vanished in some Nordic countries as to the early 1970s cohort. In this project, we examine the heterogeneities in the educational gradient in fertility, taking a comparative approach and considering differences within the gradient by educational level and field, and pairing types. In doing so, we seek to better understand the changing landscape of socioeconomic differentials in fertility and in the family formation process more broadly.
For example, one subproject examined varying educational gradients at the subnational level in Europe by taking a cohort as well as a period perspective. Covering 15 countries and 116 subnational regions in Europe in a cohort analysis of women born in the late 1960s, we documented large subnational regional variation in the magnitude of educational gradients in the fertility of women and have shown that smaller educational gradients are more common in highly developed regions within countries in Europe – despite variation at all levels of development. We have also advanced the study of fertility by producing publicly available Empirical Bayesian cohort fertility rates by educational attainment. In a closely related study, we documented substantial variation in parity-specific female period fertility rates (2002–2005) for the first time ever, using high-quality register data across seven northern and north-western countries. In the studied countries, the magnitude of within-country regional differences was typically limited compared to between-country differences, but still substantial proportions of the overall variation are situated within the countries. A Belgian case study further has shown that a notable part of the regional variation in the educational gradient in second births reflects a positive link between fertility and child care provisions, as well as wealth, for highly educated women, contrasting with lower educated groups. These findings suggest that institutional support for families is relevant but also incurs the risk of increased social polarization.
Family Behavior, Fertility Development
Publications
Batyra, E.; Leone, T.; Myrskylä, M.:
Population Studies 77:2, 179–195. (2023)
Nisén, J.; Erlandsson, A.; Jalovaara, M.:
INVEST working papers 75/2023, Turku. (2023)
Abufhele, A.; Pesando, L. M.; Castro Torres, A. F.:
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 82:100736, 1–14. (2022)
Hellstrand, J.; Nisén, J.; Myrskylä, M.:
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2022-022. (2022)
Ponkilainen, M.; Einiö, E.; Pietiläinen, M.; Myrskylä, M.:
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2022-030. (2022)
Nisén, J.; Klüsener, S.; Dahlberg, J.; Dommermuth, L.; Jasilioniene, A.; Kreyenfeld, M.; Lappegård, T.; Li, P.; Martikainen, P.; Neels, K.; Riederer, B.; te Riele, S.; Szabó, L.; Trimarchi, A.; Viciana, F.; Myrskylä, M.; Wilson, B.:
European Journal of Population 37:1, 263–295. (2021)
Nitsche, N.; Brückner, H.:
European Journal of Population 37:2, 371–403. (2021)
Nitsche, N.; Matysiak, A.; van Bavel, J.; Vignoli, D.:
Comparative Population Studies 46, 533–554. (2021)
Nitsche, N.; Trimarchi, A.; Jalovaara, M.:
MPIDR Working Paper WP-2020-029. (2020)
Wood, J.; Klüsener, S.; Neels, K.; Myrskylä, M.:
Population, Space and Place 26:8, e2342–e2342. (2020)