Family formation and educational choices

Educational choices, occupational choices, and labor supply can have major implications for individuals’ economic well-being and for society’s ability to finance pension systems and other welfare programs. Many factors can influence labor supply and occupational choices. For many women, family formation plays a crucial role. A large body of research has shown that women’s labor supply and position in the labor market deteriorate after the birth of their first child. In other words, having children has important consequences for women’s careers.

A related question is whether expectations about future family formation and its consequences for working life also affect the educational and occupational choices women make early in life. Do women pursue different types of education and choose different occupations because they expect future family formation to constitute an important interruption to their careers?

To answer these questions, the project studies women who, for medical reasons, have different expectations about future family formation. Do women who learn early in life that they will have difficulty having children make different career choices? How does this, in turn, affect their labor market outcomes later in life?

The project uses various types of administrative register data, including information on earnings, wages, occupations, educational attainment, field of education, and health.

Project leader

Johan Vikström

Other project participants

Petter Lundborg (Lund), Erik Plug (University of Amsterdam), Camille Landais (London School of Economics)