This paper uses the 2002/03 round of the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to test whether higher women’s schooling reduces both actual and the ‘desired’ number of children. 

This paper uses the 2002/03 round of the Indonesian Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) to test whether higher womens schooling reduces both actual and the desired number of children. In order to address the potential for omitted variable bias and reverse causality, quarter of birth is used as the instrument for schooling. Using instrumental variable regression, womens schooling does not seem to play a role in reducing the number of children. Schooling also does not increase the probability of using modern contraceptive methods. The reason may be due to the fact that the family planning campaign in the 1970s-80s has been successful, so regardless of education and wealth, Indonesian women in the 2000s have relatively had high knowledge and access to contraception.