Fast-Track to Family? The Influence of Shorter Schooling on Family Planning

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Mirjam Stockburger
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 543094880

As educational attainment rises globally, so does the trend of delaying family formation. The rising average age at the birth of the first child demonstrates the challenge of reconciling education, career, and family planning. In response, technological advancements introduce social freezing, allowing women to preserve their fertility. However, a crucial question emerges: should our societal focus shift towards facilitating early motherhood or continue supporting delayed family planning? This proposed research project aims to address this question within the context of Germany's educational landscape, specifically the G8 reform implemented between 2001 and 2008. The reform reduces the duration of upper secondary school by one year, aiming to enable students to enter the workforce or tertiary education a year earlier. We seek to investigate how this compressed schooling timeline impacts individuals' subsequent life milestones, such as marriage and parenthood. By leveraging the variation in implementation across German states, years, age cohorts, and school tracks, we intend to identify causal effects of shortened upper secondary school time on the timing of subsequent life events. In particular, we aim to explore how changes in the age of graduation influence when people decide to start their families. Our analysis will utilize high-quality, individual-level official statistics from the Microcensus, supplemented by detailed survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (PAIRFAM). This proposed research project aims to fill the gap in understanding the consequences of educational reforms on the timing of crucial life events. By focusing on compressed schooling, we aim to shed light on whether accelerated educational timelines contribute to earlier family formation, potentially influencing societal attitudes towards the balance between education and family planning. The findings will contribute valuable insights for policymakers, parents, and society at large, facilitating informed decision-making on the optimal structure of educational systems and their societal implications.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants