Education and the Demographic Transition in Switzerland

The relationship between education and fertility at 3 points in Switzerlands demographic transition is examined: in 1870 when fertility decline had barely begun; in 1888 when the country was in the middle of the fertility decline; and in 1910 a date by which the classic transition from high birth and death rates to low rates might be said to have been completed. The influence of several other factors on education and fertility is also considered. Military recruits in Switzerland were given literacy tests during the annual draft. The young men were examined in their mother tongue on their ability to read and write and on their skills in composition arithmetic history and geography. These data on draftees examinations have the advantage of referring to a population belonging to a precisely defined age group. They are available between 1875 and 1913 and they provide a sensitive description of the educational level of the Swiss population during the period of sustained decline in marital fertility. When educational indexes were related to marital fertility at various rates there were 2 notable results: a clearcut negative association between education and marital fertility; and a decrease in marital fertility concomitant with a rise in educational level. Without exception areas with a high proportion of low performance scores experienced considerably higher marital fertility than areas with few low scores. Circumstances in Switzerland do appear to conform to many of the hypotheses advanced regarding the nature of the education/fertility relationship. The fact that schooling became mandatory considerably changed the economic value of children who had been traditionally put to work. The latter part of the 19th century brought wider enforcement of mandatory education and legislation protecting the child. New educational requirements were also imposed by the countrys economic development. Higher education became an important asset in the competition for employment.