Educational reproduction in Europe: A descriptive account

Volume 41 - Article 49 | Pages 1373–1400 By Richard Breen , John Ermisch , Satu Helske Background : Conventional studies of intergenerational social reproduction are based on a retrospective design, sampling adults and linking their status to that of their parents. This approach yields conditional estimates of intergenerational relationships. Recent studies have taken a prospective approach, following a birth cohort forward to examine how it is socially reproduced. This permits the estimation of relationships of social reproduction that do not condition on the existence of at least one child. Objective : We examine whether the relationship between conditional and unconditional estimates found for the United States and Great Britain also holds for a diverse range of European countries. Methods : We examine educational reproduction among men and women born 1930–1950 in 12 countries using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and compare unconditional and conditional estimates. Results : We find striking similarities in the relationship between unconditional and conditional estimates throughout Europe. Among women, the difference between conditional and unconditional estimates generally increased with education. Women with more education were less likely to reproduce themselves educationally because they were less likely to marry. The educational gradient, in terms of the probability of having a child who attained a tertiary degree, was more pronounced in the South and East of Europe than in the North and West. Conclusions : The gap between conditional and unconditional estimates indicates that the more common retrospective approach tends to overstate the extent of educational reproduction. Contribution : This is the first comparative study adopting a prospective approach to intergenerational social reproduction. The distributional impact of COVID-19: Geographic variation in mortality in England Volume 44 - Article 17 The role of childlessness in changes in cohort fertility: Cross-national comparisons of countries in Europe, East Asia, and North America Volume 55 - Article 15 English fertility heads south: Understanding the recent decline Volume 45 - Article 29 Fertility expectations and residential mobility in Britain Volume 35 - Article 54 Local house prices and first births in Belgium: Subgroup variation by education and migration background Volume 55 - Article 19 | Keywords: Belgium , education , housing , migration background , parenthood Between two worlds: Cohort fertility dynamics before, during, and after the transition to a market economy in Hungary – A decomposition analysis Volume 54 - Article 19 | Keywords: completed cohort fertility , decomposition , decomposition , education , parity , regime change A flexible model for reconstructing education-specific fertility rates: The case of sub-Saharan Africa Volume 54 - Article 12 | Keywords: Bayesian demography , Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) , education , fertility , fertility rates , sub-Saharan Africa Learning and reproductive health: Do early cognitive skills contribute to better sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents in Ethiopia? Volume 54 - Article 7 | Keywords: adolescence , education , education , Ethiopia , fertility , sub-Saharan Africa Shifting spousal age gaps in Kenya and Ghana: Does education matter? Volume 53 - Article 41 | Keywords: age gap , education , gender dynamics , Ghana , Kenya , spousal age difference