How Did Women Affect Their Average Age At First Childbirth?

DEMOGRAPHY AND EDUCATION: HOW THE LEVELS OF EDUCATION BETWEEN WOMAN AFFECT THEIR AVERAGE AGE AT FIRST CHILDBIRTH.
International Studies – Comparative Sociology – Group 55 100348278
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Research question: Does a high percentage of completed tertiary education between woman aged 20-24 mean a delay in their average age at first childbirth?
Hypothesis: The higher the % of woman over 15 with completed tertiary education -as their highest education level- in a country between 20-24 years, the higher their average age at first childbirth.
This essay adresses both the topics of education and demography, which I believe are strongly linked in many areas. "In the second part of 20th century [...] tertiary education strongly expanded and changed from elite
Unfortunately, the difference in dates means that the dependent data will be subject to other factors which are left uncontrolled (changes in the independent could have happened), as well as other global differences.
ALL-ENCOMPASING RESEARCH DESIGN & CROSS-NATIONAL.
The research design used for this analysis is an all-encompasing one. In order to investigate the correlation between the two variables, I selected randomly 23 countries from every continent of the world that offers tertiary education and its average age at first childbirth between woman.
It is a cross-national study as I am investigating how the variables vary across various countries, not within one.
EXPLANATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS.
"The more time is spent in education and training, thhe longer and more prosperous and advantageous life tends to be". Nowadays, it is a very important factor affecting "market outcomes, social stratification and mobility, the social disparities in life chance and reproduction of inequalities from generation to
The fact that there is a growing proportion of jobs that require high specification and qualificaion and "an expansion of bureacratically structured wirk organization" where formal qualification criteria are used in recuitment procedures, means that individuals require more education to adapt to this demand. If we also take into account the signalling thepry (Arrow 1973) and the job competition model (Thurow 1975) what is most important is to have a hgiher education level than ones' competitiors, because "employers recruit workers from a labor queue" where those placed at the top will access the best jobs, and therefore, jobs which would formerly require only secondary education may be taken over tertiary hraduates,
2 All citations from this paragraph in:Immerfall, Stefan and Therborn, Göran . Handbook of European Societies (Chapter 9). Springer
3 All citations from this paragraph are from: Immerfall, Stefan and Therborn, Göran . Handbook of European Societies (Chapter 9).