Educational differences in timing and quantum of childbearing in Britain

Abstract

BACKGROUNDIncreased postponement of fertility, especially among higher-educated women, means it is important to know whether women recuperate births at older ages, but evidence for the UK is lacking. The extent to which the timing and quantum of mothers' fertility underlie the strong educational gradient in completed family size is also unclear. OBJECTIVEWe investigate the relative contributions of childlessness, timing, and quantum to educational differences in completed fertility within cohorts born between 1940 and 1969. METHODSWe analyse retrospective fertility histories from 44,351 women, born 1940−1969, interviewed in the British General Household Survey (1979 and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009−2010). After describing educational differences in the timing of first birth and parity distributions, we quantify the relative contributions of childlessness, delayed entry into motherhood, and fertility rates conditional upon age at entry into motherhood, to educational differences in completed family size. RESULTSWithin each cohort, the educational gradient in completed family size is explained, in demographic accounting terms, almost entirely by educational differences in the proportions remaining childless and the age distribution of mothers at entry into motherhood. Conditional upon age at entry into motherhood, subsequent fertility rates are similar across educational groups and across cohorts. CONCLUSIONSUnlike for some other European countries, the postponement of motherhood to later ages in Britain has not resulted in a significant increase in childbearing among moreeducated women who enter motherhood at later ages. The stability of aggregate measures of completed fertility in Britain is not the result of a straightforward process of postponement followed by recuperation.

Cohort fertility decline in low fertility countries: Decomposition using parity progression ratios

“…In England and Wales and the United States these relatively high fertility levels partly arise from social polarisation in fertility (Ekkert-Jaffé et al 2002;Sardon 2006aSardon , 2006b): relatively high childlessness among women with a university degree contrasts with a high share of large families among the lower-educated (Berrington, Stone, and Beaujouan 2015;Schoen 2006). This pattern is partly driven by unplanned pregnancies, which are most common among lower-educated women (Musick et al 2009).…”

Marital Fertility and Educational Assortative Mating before, during, and after the Baby Boom in Belgium

“…Earlier transition into marriage and parenthood is associated with a higher total number of children (Berrington, Stone, & Beaujouan, 2015;Sobotka, 2003), not only because people who are prone to marry early tend to want to have more children, but also because women's fecundity declines with age. Higher education is generally associated with later transition into marriage, especially for women (Becker & Lewis, 1974;Gangadharan & Maitra, 2001).…”

Differences in partnership and marital status at first birth by women’s and their partners’ education: evidence from Britain 1991–2012

“…It should be noted that cohort changes in the timing of the first birth by education may also help to explain the observed patterns. As previous studies have shown, the rise in the age at first birth across cohorts has been much more pronounced among highly educated women than among their less educated peers (Berrington et al 2015b;Ratcliffe and Smith 2006). Since less educated women tend to have their children relatively early in the life course, they are also less likely than better educated women to be married when they have their first child.…”

“…Previous studies have shown the timing of the first birth is becoming increasingly polarised by education across birth cohorts in Britain (Berrington et al 2015b;Ratcliffe and Smith 2006). This trend may be the result of the differential opportunity costs of early childbearing by level of education.…”