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dc.rights.licenseCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.contributor.advisorKeijzer, Linda
dc.contributor.authorFlötzer, Jonas
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T23:05:15Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T23:05:15Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.identifier.urihttps://studenttheses.uu.nl/handle/20.500.12932/47286
dc.description.abstractThe European Union faces significant challenges due to the demographic change, including and decreased mortality, an aging population and declining fertility rates, which together contribute to a shrinking workforce. It leads to labor shortages and threatens the sustainability of the welfare state. Although prior research has extensively linked tertiary education to the fertility decline, the findings have been inconsistent. This thesis integrates Unified Demographic Theory, Gender Equity Theory, and the EU legal framework to form a comprehensive theoretical model. It posits that higher education delays childbearing and increases opportunity costs, thereby reducing fertility rates. In countries with high gender equity, the negative impact of tertiary education is mitigated due to gender equity reducing the dual burden on highly educated women. This thesis examines ten EU member states from 1992 to 2008 using panel regression. A fixed-effects model is employed to uncover the effect of higher education on fertility rates and how gender equity impacts that relationship. Contrary to expectations, tertiary education has a positive direct effect on fertility rates on average. Yet, a closer examination of individual countries shows that four out of ten countries still exhibit a negative impact of education on fertility. The positive influence of gender equity is confirmed; for high degrees of gender equity, education has a stronger positive effect. The results highlight the importance of gender equity for highly educated women. As more women attain higher education, gender equity becomes increasingly relevant for boosting fertility rates and addressing the demographic change.
dc.description.sponsorshipUtrecht University
dc.language.isoEN
dc.subjectThe thesis uses quantitative methods to assess the influence of higher education and gender equity on fertility rates. The idea is that higher education inhibits fertility rates while gender equity promotes it. The analysis shows that both factors increase fertility rates.
dc.titleCombatting the Demographic Change: A Quantitative analysis of the effect of Higher Education and Gender Equity on Fertility Rates in the EU
dc.type.contentMaster Thesis
dc.rights.accessrightsOpen Access
dc.subject.courseuuEuropean Governance
dc.thesis.id36776


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