The Stability Paradox: Why Expansion of Women's Education Has Not Delayed Early Union Formation or Childbearing in Latin America

Abstract

Despite substantial improvements in women's education, the age at which Latin American women marry (cohabit) or become mothers for the first time has barely decreased over the past four decades. We refer to this as the "stability paradox." We examine the relationship between years of schooling and transitions to first union or child, analyzing retrospective information from 50 cohorts of women born between 1940 and 1989 in 12 Latin American countries. Absolute and relative measures of schooling are compared. Data is drawn from 38 Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) conducted between 1986 and 2012 in these countries. Results show that expected postponement in family transitions due to educational expansion was offset by a rise in union formation and childbearing within strata of absolute education, but stayed approximately constant within strata of relative education. The relative measure of education retains the stratifying power of education but neutralizes any effect attached to a specific number of years of schooling and the learning skills associated with them. This is consistent with the idea that access to education in Latin America reproduces existing patterns of socioeconomic advantage, rather than creating a more equitable distribution of learning opportunities and outcomes.

Increasing Educational Disparities in the Timing of Motherhood in the Andean Region: A Cohort Perspective

“…In particular, the analyses show that the 25% of least educated women was transitioning to motherhood earlier over time. Contrary to expectations and conclusions of the previous studies on the topic (Esteve and Florez-Paredes 2018), increasing intensity of early childbearing among women with the lowest levels of schooling was attenuated little when the relative and the absolute educational classifications were compared. This suggests that teenage firstbirth increases among the least educated women have been driven to only a small extent, if any, by the fact that they have become an adversely select group.…”

Income inequality and increasing dispersion of the transition to first birth in the Global South

“…A historical and comparative study of the fertility transition in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, and Mexico (Castro Torres, 2020) found that there were class differences in the age at first birth among women who were born as early as in the 1920s, and that these differences increased across cohorts throughout the second half of the 20 th century. These patterns are consistent with findings indicating that the divergence in the age at first birth between educational strata resulted in flat trends in the aggregate-level mean age at first birth in Latin America and the Caribbean (Esteve and Florez-Paredes, 2018).…”

Family formation trajectories and migration status in the United States, 1970-2010

“…Over the following two decades, fertility levels in LAC declined rapidly in response to urbanization, increasing educational attainment, and increasing use of effective birth control (Guzmán et al 2006). Since that time, the mean age at first birth has remained stable in many LAC countries, albeit with significant differences by socioeconomic status (Esteve and Florez-Paredes 2018). The mean age at first birth has declined most sharply among low-SES women, whereas the postponement of childbearing has been a long-standing practice among high-SES women.…”