The more highly educated people are, the stronger their desire to be economically active.
Data show that female activity rates have risen substantially.
Having said that, most women also want to become mothers. Since it is financially more attractive to start a labour market career before having children, more highly educated women have their first child much later than lesser educated women. Postponing the birth of the first child has become a widespread phenomenon in the western world, where the Netherlands may well be 'world champion late parenthood'. Almost all over Europe, period fertility rates have dropped over the past few decades while the age at first motherhood has risen. These trends started in northern and western Europe, but this 'new fertility behaviour' has since spread to southern and eastern Europe.