Educational pattern of childlessness in Serbia

Abstract

The author investigate the general pattern of childlessness by woman's educational level, with the addition of regional analysis of educational pattern of childlessness at the level of NUTS 3 areas. Analysis which is based on data from the Census of Population and Households (2011) includes women who are above or at the end of reproductive age (4549, 50-54, 55-59). According to International Standard Classification of Education ISCED-97, cohorts of women born between 1952 and 1966 are classified into five modalities of the educational structure: without education, primary-educated, secondary-educated, low-tertiary educated and high-tertiary educated. The main conclusions of an analysis are following: first, voluntary childlessness is typical for tertiary-educated women which indicates a dominant negative effect of opportunity costs; second, pattern of childlessness by woman's educational level spatial differentiate.