THE EDUCATION–FERTILITY RELATIONSHIP IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Abstract

Education and fertility are considered to be the fundamental processes for the continuance of society. This paper presents an overview of the relationship between women's education and fertility patterns in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Given the complicated political situation the complete results of a long-delayed Census in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was held in 2013, are not yet published and therefore we addressed the data on the female population of the last relevant Census held in 1991. The analysis suggests that higher educational levels are associated with lower fertility rates. However, a substantial difference exists in the scale of the gap between upper and lower educational strata, as well as between urban and rural areas within the country. Results of this study also indicate that the role of schooling effects reproductive behavior of the female population in urban and rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.