The Positive Effect of Women’s Education on Fertility in Low-Fertility China

Abstract

Despite pervasive evidence of more educated women having lower fertility, it remains unclear whether education reduces women’s fertility. This study presents new evidence of the causal effect of women’s education on fertility from China, where fertility has remained below the replacement level since the early 1990s. To account for endogeneity, the study exploits the timing and varying intensity of China’s higher education expansion as exogenous sources of increase in women’s education. Using data from China General Social Survey (2010–2012), findings show that each year of women’s education induced by the higher education expansion increases the number of children ever born by 10%. According to the average marginal effects, each additional year of women’s education increases the number of children ever born by 0.14, decreases the probability of having no children by 3 percentage points, and increases the probability of having two or more children by 4 percentage points. Two mechanisms drive the positive effect of education: first, education does not cause an increase in the mean age at first marriage; second, among ever-married women, education increases their demand for children. Findings from this study have important implications for China and other low-fertility developing countries.

Effect of adolescent female fertility and healthcare spending on maternal and neonatal mortality in low resource setting of South Asia

“…Literacy on maternal and neonatal mortality have both direct and indirect link with the availability of reproductive health care facilities. Women who educated are more likely to be rich [ 20 , 21 ], have good nutrient status [ 22 ], make decisions concerning their healthcare and well-being [ 23 ], have fewer babies [ 24 ], and have accessibility to and use resources [ 25 ]. These benefits, which come from rising female literacy, reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.…”

Unmet Need KB pada WUS di Kabupaten Mamuju : Studi Fenomenologi

“…Karakteristik sosial budaya masyarakat setempat juga merupakan salah satu faktor yang dapat mempengaruhi keinginan untuk mempunyai anak. Tekanan sosial budaya dari masyarakat setempat dapat mendorong seseorang untuk segera mempunyai anak (Chen, 2022).…”

Duration of high school education on early fertility and marriage: evidence from a policy change in Ghana

“…Several empirical papers on the effect of education on fertility point to a negative causal relationship between education and fertility (see, inter alia, Keats, 2018;Ozier, 2018;Cheng and Guo, 2022;Angko et al, 2022;Jung and Jung, 2022). In contrast, few studies have found no relationship between education and fertility (see, inter alia, MCcrary and Royer, 2011;Geruso and Royer, 2018;Bell es-Obrero et al, 2023) and a positive relationship between education and Education on early fertility and marriage fertility (Fort et al, 2016;Chen, 2022). All the empirical studies that have found no relationship between education and fertility come from the developed world, where educational attainment is very high and fertility is also very low.…”

“…, 2023) and a positive relationship between education and fertility (Fort et al. , 2016; Chen, 2022). All the empirical studies that have found no relationship between education and fertility come from the developed world, where educational attainment is very high and fertility is also very low.…”