Clear link between educational field and number of children
Individuals who pursue careers in health and education tend to have more children than those in other fields, according to a new study in demography. This is the case regardless of gender and education level.
Photo: Mostphotos/Michael Erhardsson
“Previous research has focussed on educational level and assumed that this was the most important factor. But here we show that there is more variation among education fields”, says Gunnar Andersson, who conducted the study together with Mark Gortfelder and Gerda Neyer.
The researchers studied individuals born in Sweden between 1946 and 1975. They found that people working in several female-dominated occupations have high fertility. The results are consistent with previous research, but this study is the first to also examine men.
“Previously, the high fertility rate in female-dominated workplaces could be interpreted as ‘doing gender’, that is, women behaving as expected”, says Gunnar Andersson.
Now that the researchers have examined both genders, they have found that men in female-dominated occupations also have more children than average. The researchers believe that this may be because people who are family-oriented choose programmes in education and healthcare as these fields align with their personal values and interests.
Gunnar Andersson. Photo: Rickard Kilström/Stockholm University
“Or there may be structural reasons behind it, in that these professions have a more permissive view of family life and provide opportunities to have a family alongside work”, says Gunnar Andersson.
The wide age range of the groups studied has also provided insight into how educational choices have changed over time. The study found that the proportion of men and women in different occupations is at the same levels as before.
“Given that so much else has happened with gender roles in society, it is interesting that these patterns are stable.”
The link between educational orientation and fertility has also remained stable over the years. But there are a few exceptions. Women who become doctors and lawyers today have as many children as their male colleagues.
“In the past, women who wanted to be lawyers chose between a career and children, but now their pattern is more similar to that of men in those professions”, says Gunnar Andersson.
This project uses register-linked data of the new Swedish Generations and Gender Survey 2020 (GGS2020)and its predecessor, the GGS2012, to compare changes in fertility intentions of Swedish women and men over the recent decade of Swedish fertility decline.
Over the past decade fertility rates in Sweden have declined somewhat unexpectedly. This development has occurred in tandem with even greater fertility declines in the other Nordic countries. The projects explores why.
The Department of Sociology is home to the Stockholm University Demography Unit (SUDA), an international group of scholars and doctoral students, working on many facets of population dynamics. It offers a Master’s program in Demography and a PhD program in Sociological Demography.
