This is shown by a study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, for which data from 22 European countries – including Austria – were analyzed.
Accordingly, in partnerships in which at least one parent has a low level of education, siblings are born less frequently than when both parents have a technical college or university degree. When and how many children are born in a partnership always depends on the couple’s resources. These are strongly determined by employment, income and thus also by educational qualifications. The level of education of the partner can be decisive for the decision for or against another child, especially for the less educated with often only below-average income.
Big differences in the north
The differences are particularly significant in northern Europe: there, two to five years after the first birth, the probability of having a second child with two well-educated partners is about four times greater than with two partners with little education. It is possible that low-educated couples in the Nordic countries face the most restrictions when deciding to have another child, which is remarkable given the high level of welfare state transfers for families in this region, the researchers write.
Source: Nachrichten
