The Onset of Childbearing amongst Mexican Women: The Role of Education in the Regional Contexts

Carla Pederzini, Universidad Iberoamericana
Marta Mier-y-Teran, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

Education is one of the most consistent variables related to fertility. In the case of young women, a higher educational level favors the delay of maternity through several mechanisms. However, female education is not expected to have a similar impact in all settings. In highly gender stratified contexts, schooling has a modest impact on fertility. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the regional differences in the timing of the onset of childbearing and the role of education in different regional contexts. Based on data from the Mexican Population Census (2000), we develop a descriptive analysis to underline the disparities on economic development, and education and labor opportunities for young women and men in each of the six regions studied. Additionally, we estimate multivariate models to measure the schooling effect on the probability of having experienced early maternity in two stages of young women’s life in different regions.