Regional Effects of Demographic Transition: The Interrelationship Between Education and Wealth on Fertility Decisions

Explanations for the evolutionary puzzle of fertility decline need a varied approach, a biosocial approach utilizing both cultural transmission and economic anthropology. While many studies have been conducted on the effects of wealth on fertility decisions, there are far more limited studies on the interrelationship between wealth and education and how they affect fertility decisions. I hypothesize that there will be an interaction between wealth and education, depending on educational level, as there is some population specific evidence that education moderates the effects of wealth on fertility decisions. Using the General Social Survey database from the University of Chicago, I analyzed this relationship on fertility decisions. Results are discussed in light of the joint contribution of economic and cultural effects on fertility decline