A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Childlessness trends at different ages by educational attainment for men and women in Finland: A research note
Authors: Jalovaara, Marika; Miettinen, Anneli
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Population Studies
ISSN: 0032-4728
eISSN: 1477-4747
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2025.2592578
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1080/00324728.2025.2592578
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/508348885
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Research on childlessness by educational attainment typically focuses on lifetime childlessness at age 40 or 45, with less known about younger ages. This study examines trends in childlessness by age and education for men and women in Finland from 1987 to 2022, using total population register data. We focus on childlessness at ages 30, 35, 40, and 45. The results show that childlessness has increased at most ages, with acceleration in the past decade. At ages 40 and 45, the association between education and childlessness is negative for men—men with lower education are more often childless—while among women, the association has reversed from positive to negative in recent years. At age 30, childlessness is higher among the highly educated, reflecting later entry into parenthood. At age 35, childlessness has risen across all groups, notably including tertiary-educated men and women. These trends suggest that the increase in lifetime childlessness in Finland is likely to continue and become more widespread.
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Funding information in the publication:
The authors wish to thank Julia Hellstrand for her helpful suggestions and Statistics Finland for granting permission (grant number TK-53-731-16) to use the data. This work was funded by: the Academy of Finland under grant number 369118 to the INVEST Research Flagship Centre; and the FLUX project funded by Finland's Strategic Research Council (decision number 364374).
