Do different educational pairings lead to different fertility outcomes? A cohort perspective for the Greek case

Abstract

The paper investigates fertility differentials by educational pairing in a cohort perspective. Based on Greek census data, the analysis generates empirical results in demographic areas that have yet to be fully explored, such as the quantum of completed cohort fertility by the partners’ educational levels (particularly among homogamous, hypergamous, and hypogamous couples), permanent childlessness among highly educated couples and the completed fertility patterns by birth order across different educational pairings. The findings confirm the shift from the traditional pattern of educational hypergamy (women marrying up) to hypogamy (the woman is more educated than the man) and to medium and high educational homogamy. They also document that the differentials in fertility patterns by couples’ levels of education appear to be related more to the tempo than the quantum of fertility, with the notable exception of the less educated homogamous couples; the completed fertility levels are significantly higher among this particular educational pairing than among the other educational pairings. The study suggests that educational pairing is likely to be an important topic in the investigation of human reproduction, particularly given that the increase in female educational levels and the shifts in traditional gender roles are leading to changes in fertility decisionmaking processes.