Cohabitation and working mothers have become commonplace in today's Europe. But do people's attitudes toward these family choices depend on their level of education? A new study shows that while several newer family models are widely accepted in society, education still plays a role in attitudes toward issues such as divorce among parents of young children and mothers returning to work early.

This conclusion comes from an international research team from universities in Finland and the United Kingdom, which included Katrin Schwanitz, a visiting researcher at Tallinn University. The analysis is based on responses from more than 60,000 people in 21 European countries in 2006 and 2018.

The study found that cohabitation is generally considered acceptable across Europe. However, voluntary childlessness and divorce among families with young children are viewed much more critically. For example, in Eastern Europe, nearly 40 percent of respondents disapprove of divorce among parents with children under 12, while in Southern Europe opposition remains below a quarter.

Estonia stands out for relatively cautious or even disapproving attitudes. Support for divorce among parents of young children and for mothers working is higher even in Poland and Slovenia. Along with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia, Estonia belongs to a more conservative group, according to the study. This is despite strong policies supporting work–family balance in Estonia and the prevalence of cohabitation and children born outside marriage. Higher education also does not significantly alter people's attitudes in Estonia.

The study found most clearly that education level influences attitudes only on certain issues. People with higher education are notably more supportive of divorce among parents of young children and of young mothers working full-time. By contrast, full-time work for men in the same situation is seen as natural across nearly all countries and education groups.

According to the researchers, differing attitudes toward mothers' employment may be related to a persistent gender double standard. For women with lower levels of education, the loss of income from staying at home may be smaller than for highly educated women, which may make full-time work less likely to be seen as an appropriate choice among them.

An interesting finding was that in Southern and Eastern Europe, the influence of education on attitudes toward cohabitation and having children outside marriage has decreased over time. On the one hand, less-educated populations in these regions have become more accepting of such lifestyles. On the other hand, the initially higher level of approval among the highly educated declined over the period studied.

The study was published in the journal "Population and Development Review".

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