The Impact of University Education On Fertility and Female Empowerment: Evidence from Ethiopia's Tertiary-sector Reforms
Abstract: We examine how fertility and marital outcomes change as a new university opens within a certain distance in Ethiopia. We find that women who were exposed to the availability of a university within 20 km by age 20 have 0.37 fewer childbirth by age 30 compared to non-exposed women, accounting for a 12-percent reduction. The effect is increasingly negative with age from 18 to 30 and decreases with distance to the nearest university. The decline in the age-specific fertility is attributed to a delay in marriage as well as first childbirth. Also, university education is found to empower women, instead of their parents, to decide on their own marriage.