Education as policy: The impact of education on marriage, contraception, and fertility in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia

Using data from the World Fertility and Demographic and Wealth Surveys of C olombia, Peru, and Bolivia, we model the effects of education on three demo graphic outcomes: the timing of first sexual union, contraceptive use, and fertility These effects are examined over time and across geographic areas using a multivariate framework, We find substantial improvements in female educational attainment over the last fifty years and a strong relationship between education and the demographic outcomes. Each successive increment i n education is associated with declines in the marriage rate, increased con traceptive use, and lower fertility. Education accounts for some of the cha nges over time in the demographic outcomes, but the pattern varies by outco me, time period, and geographic area. In support of the social diffusion hy pothesis, our results indicate that educational differences in reproductive behavior are reduced as the level of development increases and societies p ass through their demographic transition.