Fertility effects of college education : evidence from the German educational expansion

We estimate the effects of college education on female fertility - a so far understudied margin of education, which we instrument by arguably exogenous variation induced through college expansions. While college education reduces the probability of becoming a mother, college-educated mothers have slightly more children than mothers without a college education. Unfolding the effects by the timing of birth reveals a postponement that goes beyond the time in college - indicating a negative earlycareer effect on fertility. Coupled with higher labor-supply and wage returns for nonmothers as compared to mothers the timing effects moreover suggest that career and family are not fully compatible.