In-Vitro Fertilization and Educational Gradients in Fetility: Evidence from Denmark

Anna Barbuscia, Oxford University
Sander Wagner, ENSAE, CREST, Université Paris Saclay

We explore the effect of the emergence of a new technology, in-vitro fertilization, on the relationship between education and fertility. Using the Danish IVF Register, in combination with the population register from 1994 to 2005 we look at all births that took place in the country and show how the educational gradient of in-vitro-fertility changed over that time period, allowing us to gain insights into how the adaption of this new technology evolves across different socio-economic groups. We also look at how that gradient compares to the fertility-education gradient of non-IVF births and how it influenced the overall relationship between fertility and education in the country. Finally we decompose the contribution of self-selection into IVF-treatment, choice of treatment method and differential success rates across educational strata to the relationship between education and IVF births we found.

Presented in Session 111: Education and Fertility