TY - JOUR
T1 - Births, debts and mirages
T2 - The impact of the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and other factors on Australian fertility expectations
AU - Yu, Peng
AU - Kippen, Rebecca
AU - Chapman, Bruce
PY - 2007/5
Y1 - 2007/5
N2 - This paper uses survey data to examine the effect of the income-contingent charge mechanism, the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), and other demographic and attitudinal variables on fertility expectations in Australia over the recent past. HECS requires former Australian students to fund some of the costs of higher education through the repayment of interest-free loans made by the Australian government. Its defining characteristic is that repayments only occur when and if students' future incomes exceed a particular level. Since its introduction in 1989, media and other populist commentary has suggested that HECS has had unanticipated effects on behaviour. Most recently, attention has focused on the effects of HECS on fertility, with some arguing that university graduates are delaying births, and having fewer children, because of their HECS debts. This paper demonstrates that the introduction of HECS has had no discernible impact on Australian fertility rates, nor on the number of children that people expect to have. However, education, age and a number of attitudinal factors are associated with significant differences in fertility expectations.
AB - This paper uses survey data to examine the effect of the income-contingent charge mechanism, the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS), and other demographic and attitudinal variables on fertility expectations in Australia over the recent past. HECS requires former Australian students to fund some of the costs of higher education through the repayment of interest-free loans made by the Australian government. Its defining characteristic is that repayments only occur when and if students' future incomes exceed a particular level. Since its introduction in 1989, media and other populist commentary has suggested that HECS has had unanticipated effects on behaviour. Most recently, attention has focused on the effects of HECS on fertility, with some arguing that university graduates are delaying births, and having fewer children, because of their HECS debts. This paper demonstrates that the introduction of HECS has had no discernible impact on Australian fertility rates, nor on the number of children that people expect to have. However, education, age and a number of attitudinal factors are associated with significant differences in fertility expectations.
KW - Attitude
KW - Australia
KW - Education costs
KW - Fertility determinants
KW - Fertility expectations
KW - Higher education contribution scheme
KW - Lifetime fertility
KW - Religiosity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=35348843995&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/BF03031879
DO - 10.1007/BF03031879
M3 - Article
SN - 1443-2447
VL - 24
SP - 73
EP - 90
JO - Journal of Population Research
JF - Journal of Population Research
IS - 1
ER -