Reproductive behavior of Russian women as depending on their level of education

Abstract

There are many studies focusing on various effects of womens education, in particular, on decline in fertility in those societies that are at the second stage of the demographic transition. However, in societies that have completed this transition, the relationship between these phenomena is changing, which requires a special study. We need to understand how womens education affects fertility in Russia to assess the efficiency of social and demographic policies. The study aims at analyzing differences in fertility rates and womens reproductive attitudes as depending on the level of education. The study is based on the data of the sample surveys of reproductive plans (2017 and 2012) and of the 2010 All-Russian Census. In general, the results confirm the global trend: on average, women with a high education status have fewer children than women with a lower level of education; on average, the former are older when they have the first child and tend to have larger intergenetic intervals. The analysis of reproductive attitudes and intentions shows that women with higher and postgraduate education have a larger gap between the average desired and the expected number of children. Among the factors hindering the birth of the desired number of children, women of almost all levels of education name material and housing difficulties and uncertainty about the future; however, women with higher and postgraduate education mention these reasons less often - for them, it is more important to combine motherhood and work and to have high-quality services in various spheres.