An analysis of the impact of education on family size

Abstract

The impact of education on family size is divided into a direct effect (holding labor force participation and age at marriage constant) and an indirect effect (varying labor force participation and age at marriage). The results suggest that (I) the indirect effect of education is greater at higher levels of the wife's education, (2) the direct effect is greater at lower levels of education in most cases, (3) the indirect effects do not vary systematically with husband's education, (4) but the direct effect does vary systematically with husband's education if the education of the wife is low but not if wife's education is high. © 1976 Population Association of America.