Reproductive decision-making and human capital

A large body of literature has investigated the role of women`s education in reproductive decision-making. These studies, however, yielded inconsistent findings which can be attributed to differences in measures, methods and study design as well as in the countries and times the relevant data were collected. The inconsistent picture of the relation between reproductive decisions and human capital is also due to the complex effects that education has on fertility: it is predominantly, but not exclusively, negative and may vary across the individual`s reproductive span. In this project I examine the relationship between reproductive decision-making and women`s human capital with the aim of explaining the existing inconsistencies. First, I conduct a meta-analysis with the aim to assess the relationship between fertility decisions and education in a quantitative manner and to inspect its temporal and cross-country variation, net of differences found across studies. Second, I perform a statistical analysis on selected unresolved or contradicting issues derived from the meta-analysis with the aim to shed light on the reasons behind the existent contradictory findings. The research results to be reached in the framework of the project will upgrade the existing scientific knowledge on the reproductive decision-making of different social groups, which may warrant a diversified policy intervention. Hence, it will serve for inferring implications relevant for policy-makers and a wide interested audience.

In the past decades, an increasing number of women have reached a high level of education in Europe and other affluent countries. This has exacerbated the conflict between a professional career and a family with children, which usually is felt more strongly by college educated women. Results of the ReCap project show that work-family conflict becomes less tense for highly educated women who a) rely on the better economic resources of their mothers, b) benefit better gender equality in the labour market and c) receive larger help in child-rearing and child-caring activities from their partner. Work and family have become conflicting spheres of life for women participating in the labour market and keeping the main responsibility for child-care and household duties. Whether and to what extent womens growing investments in education are in conflict with childbearing is an issue with important repercussions for persistently low fertility in ageing societies. The project Reproductive Decision-Making and Human Capital (ReCap) investigates the conditions under which childbearing intentions and education are positively correlated. Education increases peoples ability to learn later in life and to live healthier lives, therefore, the main emphasis of the project on this specific dimension of human capital is warranted. The analysis performed in the ReCap project confirms that women with high levels of education report more often the intention to have a first or a second child than medium or low educated women. But this positive relationship tends to disappear after the achievement of a family with two children, which has been the prevalent norm in Europe since decades. The reasons for high-educated women being more prone to report a birth intention are related to the better resources they have at their disposal for planning a child and to the fact that they tend to have mothers with a high level of education. This reinforces their ability to implement their choices because they can rely on more socio-economic help after childbearing. Labour markets with more gender equal labour force participation and a high share of highly qualified female employment smooth educational differences in childbearing choices and strengthen highly educated womens ability to reach the intended fertility target. Institutional contexts that promote labour market equality support both formation of childbearing intentions and their realisation, which help women to align their conflicting personal and professional career goals, an arrangement which is particularly challenging for highly educated women.