Economic Conditions, Education and Parity‐Specific Fertility: A Sub‐National Regional Study Across 15 Countries in Europe

ABSTRACT There is a longstanding interest in the link between economic conditions and fertility levels. Most research measuring economic development has focused on national‐level patterns and period total fertility levels. We aim to extend existing knowledge by carrying out a sub‐national regional analysis of the link between economic conditions and parity‐specific cohort fertility, while taking into account heterogeneity by educational level. We study three fertility outcomes by women's education: the share of women who remain childless, the mean number of children per mother and the mean number of children per woman. For this analysis, we harmonised register, census and large‐scale survey data from 15 European countries, with a focus on women born in the late 1960s. Women's fertility was measured at the end of their reproductive careers and combined with contextual information, including information on the regional GDP (per capita). In our multiple regression models that controlled for country‐level factors, we found that GDP was positively associated with childlessness among women with medium and high levels of education. However, GDP was negatively associated with the number of children per mother among women with low levels of education. These findings show that the relationship between economic conditions and fertility varies depending on the level of education of the women, and it differs between childlessness and continued childbearing. High‐income contexts may be less supportive of continued childbearing for women with lower levels of education.

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Publication Details

Journal
Population Space and Place
Published
2025-07-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.70074
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Family Dynamics and Relationships
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
11.18

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article

Economic Conditions, Education and Parity‐Specific Fertility: A Sub‐National Regional Study Across 15 Countries in Europe

Pekka Martikainen, Harun Sulak, Mikko Myrskylä, Francisco Viciana et al.
2 citations
Population Space and Place
Family Dynamics and Relationships
11.18
article

Economic Conditions, Education and Parity‐Specific Fertility: A Sub‐National Regional Study Across 15 Countries in Europe

Pekka Martikainen, Harun Sulak, Mikko Myrskylä, Francisco Viciana, Johan Dahlberg, Trude Lappegård, Saskia te Riele, Karel Neels, Laura Szabó, Jessica Nisén, Sebastian Klüsener, Lars Dommermuth, Alessandra Trimarchi, Michaela Kreyenfeld, Aiva Jasilioniene, Bernhard Riederer, Peng Li
article en
2 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT There is a longstanding interest in the link between economic conditions and fertility levels. Most research measuring economic development has focused on national‐level patterns and period total fertility levels. We aim to extend existing knowledge by carrying out a sub‐national regional analysis of the link between economic conditions and parity‐specific cohort fertility, while taking into account heterogeneity by educational level. We study three fertility outcomes by women's education: the share of women who remain childless, the mean number of children per mother and the mean number of children per woman. For this analysis, we harmonised register, census and large‐scale survey data from 15 European countries, with a focus on women born in the late 1960s. Women's fertility was measured at the end of their reproductive careers and combined with contextual information, including information on the regional GDP (per capita). In our multiple regression models that controlled for country‐level factors, we found that GDP was positively associated with childlessness among women with medium and high levels of education. However, GDP was negatively associated with the number of children per mother among women with low levels of education. These findings show that the relationship between economic conditions and fertility varies depending on the level of education of the women, and it differs between childlessness and continued childbearing. High‐income contexts may be less supportive of continued childbearing for women with lower levels of education.

Population Space and PlaceVol. 31(6)
University of Messina (IT), University of Vienna (AT), Statistics Norway (NO), Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (NL), University of Helsinki (FI), Austrian Academy of Sciences (AT), University of Antwerp (BE), University of Turku (FI), Stockholm University (SE), University of Oslo (NO), Vytautas Magnus University (LT), Universidad Loyola Andalucía (ES), Hertie School (DE), Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (DE), Hungarian Demographic Research Institute (HU), Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FI), Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (NL), Federal Institute for Population Research (DE)
Helsingin Yliopisto, European Commission, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Jane ja Aatos Erkon Säätiö, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Norges Forskningsråd, Turun Yliopisto, Strategic Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Family Dynamics and Relationships
11.18
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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