Educated women holding off on childbirth

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- College-educated women are engaged in a "delayer boom," choosing to have children at a later age than other women, the U.S. Census Bureau said.

A comparison of the 2000 and 2010 Fertility Supplements to the Current Population Survey found they are also still having fewer children overall by the end of their childbearing years, a census bureau release said Monday.

In 2000, women 25 to 34 with at least a bachelor's degree had fewer total children and were less likely to have ever given birth than women who had less than a high school education.

By 2010, the same group of women -- now age 35 to 44 -- with at least a bachelor's degree had 1.7 births, while women who had less than a high school education had 2.5 births

"Our findings show that a 'delayer boom' is under way, where highly educated women initially delay childbearing but are more likely to have children into their 30s," Census Bureau demographer Kristy Krivickas said.

"But these women do not fully catch up to the childbearing levels of women with fewer years of schooling."

For two intermediate educational groups of women -- those with a high school diploma and those with some college education -- no differences between the two groups in either average number of children born or percentage with a child were noted for 2010.