An increasing share of highly educated women in the US are having children and bigger families, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data.
The study reports that childlessness among highly educated women is down 30% from 1994.

Childlessness among women into their 40s with an MD or PhD has fallen significantly over the last two decades.

Presently, around 22% of women aged 40-44 with a master's degree (or higher) are childless - down 30% from 1994. In those women with an MD or PhD the decline is even more dramatic falling from 35% of women without children in 1994 to 20% today.

In addition to being more likely that highly educated women will have children, the research finds that they are also having bigger families.

Six in 10 women with a master's degree have had two or more children - up from 51% in 1994. The share with two children has risen 4 percentage points, while the share with three or more has risen 6 percentage points.

Gretchen Livingston, Senior Researcher of the report "Childlessness falls, family size grows among highly educated women" writes:

"This trend has likely been driven by demographic and societal changes. It coincides with women's growing presence in managerial and leadership positions and suggests that an increasing share of professional women are confronting the inevitable push and pull of work-family balance."

Previous research by the Pew Research Center has indicated that overall women devote fewer hours to paid work with each additional child they have. The report found that on average, a working-age woman with no children spends 27 hours per week in paid work, while a woman with three or more children spends 18 hours working.

Moreover, working mothers are suggested to be more than three times as likely as working fathers to reveal that being a working parent has made advancing their career more difficult.

Childlessness among all women ages 40-44 in the US is at its lowest point in a decade, which is likely fueled in part by the increase in motherhood among highly educated women. The average number of children that US women have in their lifetime has remained stable over the past 20 years, at about two children.

Currently around 35% of all women between 40-44 have two children, while just 12% have four or more. Simultaneously, one-child families have gained ground, with 18% of women having an only child at the end of their childbearing years, up from 10% in 1976. About 20% of women have three children, a number that has remained virtually unchanged.

Educational 'gaps' in childlessness and family size persist

Other key findings from the report focus on fertility trends, educational "gaps" in childlessness and family size and race.

Fertility trends among highly educated women show a clear pattern of decreased childlessness and bigger families. However, childlessness has decreased among women without a high school diploma and among women with a bachelor's degree, but family size has remained unchanged.

Although educational "gaps" in childlessness and family size have narrowed over 20 years, they still persist.

The higher the education a woman has, up to a bachelor's degree, the less likely she is to become a mother. Additionally, mothers with more education have fewer children than those with less education. Just 13% of moms lacking a high school diploma have one child, while 26% have four or more. Among mothers with a master's degree or higher, 23% have one child and just 8% have four or more.

Fertility patterns differ significantly by race and ethnicity. Among women aged 40-44 who are childless:

17% are white15% are black13% are Asian10% are Hispanic.

Hispanic and black mothers ages 40-44 are particularly likely to have larger families. About 20% of Hispanic mothers have four or more children, as do 18% of black mothers.

In comparison, just 11% of white mothers have four or more children, as do 10% of Asian mothers. Since 1988, there has been a dramatic decline in the share of mothers with four or more children among Hispanics, blacks and whites.

Medical News Today recently reported on a new study that finds that small differences in family income are associated with relatively large surface area differences in important brain regions among children in these families.

Written by Hannah Nichols

Without Having to Cross Your Legs and Chant "Om" Because channeling your favorite monk is, er, not gonna happen. Shutterstock
Every time I read yet another study about all of the health benefits of meditation, I beat myself up for not getting my butt out of bed just a little bit earlier to try this sanity-saving, health-transforming practice—again. And so I set my alarm for 6:50 a.m., wake up 10 minutes earlier than usual the next day, and hit the floor to sit in the quietness and simply breathe. Ten minutes of inhales and exhales? Easy.
If only. Within seconds, my mind is racing—What will I have for breakfast? Dang, my back is sore! How many e-mails are waiting for me at work?—and usually, I’m not even a minute into my meditate-for-10-minutes goal when I’m wondering, Am I done yet? Which makes it even tougher not to hit the snooze button when my alarm goes off at 6:50 a.m. the next day. Before I know it, I’ve abandoned my mission to meditate—at least until I read another study about its life-changing powers.
What’s up with my lack of commitment to this practice that I know will boost everything from my mood and concentration to my heart health and even longevity?

Lynne Goldberg, a meditation teacher and founder of the app "OMG I Can Meditate!," reassures me it’s not because I’m lazy. “Instead, it’s probably because you haven’t found a way of meditating that works for you,” she says. “There’s a misconception that you have to sit cross-legged on the floor, chanting Sanskrit songs, in order to get the benefits. But really, there’s no ‘right’ way to meditate except the one that feels best to you. Because that’s what you’ll stick to.”
Goldberg’s first piece of advice: Do it first thing in the morning. (I was on target with that part!) As in, wake up, go to the bathroom, and then start meditating before you even brush your teeth. “Carve out just 10 minutes every morning—because honestly, who doesn’t have just 10 minutes?—for three weeks,” says Goldberg. “By then, I can almost guarantee you that your practice will have officially become a habit, and the benefits you experience will be amazing.”
RELATED: How to De-Stress in Just 10 Minutes
Ben Turshen, a Vedic meditation teacher in New York City (who used to be meditation-averse, too, living a fast-paced lifestyle as a lawyer and SoulCycle instructor), says one of the first big concepts he teaches his students is that “we don’t actually meditate for the experience of meditating, the same way we don’t brush our teeth for the experience of brushing." “You brush your teeth because you know that once you do, you’ll feel fresh again. That’s what you look forward to.” And, says Turshen, with regular practice, meditation can be so uplifting and instantly beneficial that you’ll start craving the feeling you get after you do it.

Want those warm fuzzies—minus those cross-legged cramps and cheesy, guided meditation iTunes downloads? Goldberg and Turshen share their best advice:
Ditch the Zafu and Just Get Comfy

In fact, you don’t even need to own a zafu (or even know that it’s one of those fluffy little meditation pillows). And if sitting cross-legged on your cold bedroom floor makes you miserable, don’t do that, either. Go ahead and plop yourself on your comfy couch, at the kitchen table, or on the floor with your back supported by the wall or a big pillow—and don’t worry about being perfectly still. “If your nose is itchy halfway through, go ahead and scratch your nose,” says Tershen. The only rule: Don’t lie down, which could inspire you to go back to sleep.
RELATED: 6 Surprising Signs You're Stressed
Focus on Your Breath
If the words “empty your mind” inspire you to scream, “Not possible!” take heart: “Let go of this idea that you can stop your mind from thinking,” says Tershen. When your mind wanders—and it will wander—just notice where your thoughts go and then quietly come back to your breath. “The easiest thing to focus on during meditation is your breath because it’s automatic—it’s with you all the time,” says Goldberg. Plus, it’s conscious (when you hear or read the words, “Take a big breath,” you do) as well as unconscious (you breathe all the livelong day without thinking about it). “This ability we have to breathe both on a conscious and unconscious level makes it a great link between the body and mind, which is one of the goals of meditating,” says Goldberg.

Repeat a Mantra
Is “om” or another Sanskrit chant too hippy-dippy for your taste? It’s okay; just come up with a mantra or affirmation that feels good to you when you repeat it. For example, you might silently say, "I am strong, I am happy," or, “Let go,” every time you inhale and exhale. “Finding a mantra you love can be easier than simply focusing on the breath,” says Goldberg, “and it’s a great way to keep you in the present moment versus thinking about what happened yesterday or what’s in store later on.”
RELATED: 5 Breathing Exercises to Try Today
Meditate on the Move
Still can’t sit still for more than a minute without getting fidgety? Try breathing or repeating your mantra while you’re walking or doing yoga. If you’re really pressed for time, simply bring a lot more mindfulness to your morning get-ready routine. “Even washing your hair can be a meditation,” says Goldberg, “if you’re feeling the water, noticing the smells, and being present in the moment. Anything that brings you into your senses in the here and now is a mindfulness practice.” Turshen adds that there are likely a handful of activities that you’re already doing that make you feel present: maybe it’s those intense Pilates classes or brewing coffee every morning. “When you’re doing something that brings your mind and body together in time and space so you feel fully in the present moment, that’s where we feel fulfilled,” says Turshen. And that’s the ultimate goal of meditation: to practice that “presentness” so that you feel more chillaxed, content, and on-your-game—all the time.