Educational Field and Fertility Decline in Finland in 2010–2019

Julia Hellstrand , University of Helsinki
Jessica Nisén , University of Turku
Mikko Myrskylä, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

Fertility declined sharply and unexpectedly in Finland in the 2010s. While studies identify fertility declines across all educational levels, information about differences in fertility declines across educational field is lacking. Previous research has shown that in the Nordic countries variation in fertility is usually larger between educational fields than between educational levels. Using Finnish register data we calculated total fertility rates in 2010-2019 for 153 fields of education, and estimated the impact of differences in characteristics of the fields on the fertility declines using regression models. All groups experienced fertility declines since 2010, but women with the highest fertility levels in 2010 (health, welfare, and education) and women in agriculture experienced weaker fertility declines. Women with the lowest fertility levels in 2010 (information and communication technologies, and arts and humanities) experienced stronger fertility declines. The strength of the fertility decline increased with higher unemployment levels and lower income in the field, and decreased to some extent with female-dominated fields and fields in the public sector. The results imply that being educated in fields with stable job security has hindered very strong fertility declines, and suggest further divergence in fertility levels between educational fields.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe