Thread by @Anne_red_head

Of all the education groups in the US, women with a BA have the lowest fertility rate--lower than women with a Masters or PhD

#fertility #demography #population #education

cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr…

People often see this and think: “people with less money and less education have more kids—so won’t the future population be overrun by poorer, less educated people?”

No! Because other things also determine a person’s education and earnings—like social institutions and individual behavior. People can be more educated than their parents.

Think about it: wealthier and more educated people have had fewer kids than the poorer and less educated for centuries while average human education and wealth has simultaneously skyrocketed.

If we deterministically always inherited the educational status of our parents with no upward mobility, we would all still be (literally) illiterate cavemen.