Female education level and its impact on fertility in Novi Sad

Fertility in the modern world is influenced by many factors, from the individual, through the influence of the environment, to perennial changes in lifestyle and also population policy in countries. The delay in starting a family significantly affects the demographic picture of birth rates. Reduced number of children per person in the fertile period, emigration of young generations from Serbia, and large losses during the war in these areas can lead to the depopulation of one state, and thus one nation. The task of the paper is to investigate and analyze the fertility of highly educated women in the area of Novi Sad, primarily the level of education, the number of children, the desired number of children, the number of children, and the factors that influenced this achievement. The results showed that the majority of respondents want a larger number of children, two, three, or four, with only six respondents having three children and two respondents having four children. Lack of housing, incomes that are not enough to provide basic needs for one child, working hours, especially for women employed in private companies, certainly affect the realization of the desired number of children.