Ekonomiska faktorer och fertilitetsutvecklingen i Europa

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the relationship between economic factors and fertility in European high-income countries over the period 1990–2023. Despite high living standards and well-developed welfare systems, fertility rates in many European countries have remained persistently below the replacement level. Raising questions about the relevance of traditional economic explanations. Using country-level panel data, the study estimates a two-way fixed effects model to analyze how changes in selected economic factors within countries over time are associated with total fertility rates. The analysis focuses on female education, female labor force participation, economic equality, and economic uncertainty, while controlling for country-specific and time-specific effects. The results indicate a robust negative association between economic uncertainty and fertility. Whereas the relationships between fertility, female education and female labor force participation are weaker and less consistent across model specifications. No clear relationship is found between economic inequality and fertility. The findings suggest that economic uncertainty may play an important role in contemporary fertility dynamics in European high-income countries. The study highlights the importance of reassessing established economic explanations of fertility and emphasizes the need for further research incorporating broader economic and non-economic dimensions of fertility behavior.