The highly educated often have two children — childlessness and high numbers of children more commonly seen among low- and medium-educated persons



: Jalovaara Marika, Miettinen Anneli

Publisher: Turun yliopisto

: Turku

: 2022

: FLUX Policy brief

: 1

: https://fluxconsortium.fi/the-highly-educated-often-have-two-children-childlessness-and-high-numbers-of-children-more-commonly-seen-among-low-and-medium-educated-persons/

: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/174568715


  • Lifetime childlessness has increased among men and women with lower (low or medium) education. Childlessness levels in Finland are high by international standards.
  • Simultaneously, high numbers of children are commonly seen among lower-educated men and women. Often, couples with lower level of education have three, four or more children. This is linked to an increase in ‘multipartner fertility’, or, having a child with more than one partner.
  • Highly educated men and women are more likely to have exactly two children. Both childlessness and a high number of children are less common among highly educated persons than among the lower educated, and this has not changed.


Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 19:41