Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/105101 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5068
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We study the relationship between education and fertility, exploiting compulsory schooling reforms in England and Continental Europe, implemented between 1936 and 1975. We assess the causal effect of education on the number of biological children and the incidence of childlessness. We find surprising results for Continental Europe: the additional education generated by compulsory schooling expansions led to an increase in the number of biological children per woman and a decrease in childlessness. The results for England point in the opposite direction. Moreover, for the Continent we find that education during this time led to fewer women who remained unmarried over their life course. Our findings are robust to a number of sensitivity and falsification checks.
Subjects: 
education
fertility
causal effects
JEL: 
I20
J13
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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