IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/uwp/jhriss/v40y2005i2p683-715.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • V. Joseph Hotz
  • Susan Williams McElroy
  • Seth G. Sanders

Abstract

We exploit a “natural experiment” associated with human reproduction to identify the causal effect of teen childbearing on the socioeconomic attainment of teen mothers. We exploit the fact that some women who become pregnant experience a miscarriage and do not have a live birth. Using miscarriages an instrumental variable, we estimate the effect of teen mothers not delaying their childbearing on their subsequent attainment. We find that many of the negative consequences of teenage childbearing are much smaller than those found in previous studies. For most outcomes, the adverse consequences of early childbearing are short-lived. Finally, for annual hours of work and earnings, we find that a teen mother would have lower levels of each at older ages if they had delayed their childbearing.

Suggested Citation

  • V. Joseph Hotz & Susan Williams McElroy & Seth G. Sanders, 2005. "Teenage Childbearing and Its Life Cycle Consequences: Exploiting a Natural Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:40:y:2005:i:2:p683-715
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://jhr.uwpress.org/cgi/reprint/XL/3/683
    Download Restriction: A subscripton is required to access pdf files. Pay per article is available.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Horowitz, Joel L & Manski, Charles F, 1995. "Identification and Robustness with Contaminated and Corrupted Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(2), pages 281-302, March.
    2. Angrist, J.D. & Imbens, G.W., 1991. "Sources of Identifying Information in Evaluation Models," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1568, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    3. Cameron, Stephen V & Heckman, James J, 1993. "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 1-47, January.
    4. Ribar, D.C., 1992. "Teenage Fertility and Early Adult Labor Force Participation," Papers 4-92-1, Pennsylvania State - Department of Economics.
    5. James J. Heckman, 1991. "Randomization and Social Policy Evaluation Revisited," NBER Technical Working Papers 0107, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Rosenzweig, Mark R & Wolpin, Kenneth I, 1995. "Sisters, Siblings, and Mothers: The Effect of Teen-Age Childbearing on Birth Outcomes in a Dynamic Family Context," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(2), pages 303-326, March.
    7. Bronars, Stephen G & Grogger, Jeff, 1994. "The Economic Consequences of Unwed Motherhood: Using Twin Births as a Natural Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1141-1156, December.
    8. Josefine Card, 1981. "Long-term consequences for children of teenage parents," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 18(2), pages 137-156, May.
    9. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    10. V. Joseph Hotz & Charles H. Mullin & Seth G. Sanders, 1997. "Bounding Causal Effects Using Data from a Contaminated Natural Experiment: Analysing the Effects of Teenage Childbearing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 575-603.
    11. Arline T. Geronimus & Sanders Korenman, 1992. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(4), pages 1187-1214.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wolfe, Barbara & Wilson, Kathryn & Haveman, Robert, 2001. "The role of economic incentives in teenage nonmarital childbearing choices," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(3), pages 473-511, September.
    2. Arnaud Chevalier & Tarja K. Viitanen & Tarja K. Viitanen, 2003. "The long-run labour market consequences of teenage motherhood in Britain," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(2), pages 323-343, May.
    3. Joseph J. Sabia, 2007. "Early Adolescent Sex and Diminished School Attachment: Selection or Spillovers?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(1), pages 239-268, July.
    4. Anna Aizer & Paul J. Devereux & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2019. "Grandparents, Mothers, or Fathers? Why Children of Teen Mothers do Worse in Life," Working Papers 201908, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    5. R. Haveman & B. Wolfe & K. Wilson & E. Peterson, "undated". "Do Teens Make Rational Choices? The Case of Teen Nonmarital Childbearing," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1137-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.
    6. Helena Holmlund, 2005. "Estimating Long-Term Consequences of Teenage Childbearing: An Examination of the Siblings Approach," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(3).
    7. Kaplan, Greg & Goodman, Alissa & Walker, Ian, 2004. "Understanding the Effects of Early Motherhood in Britain: The Effects on Mothers," IZA Discussion Papers 1131, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Rebekah Levine Coley & P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale, 1997. "Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenthood: Recent Evidence and Future Directions," JCPR Working Papers 17, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    9. Hill, Laura E. & Jepsen, Christopher, 2007. "Positive outcomes from poor starts: Predictors of dropping back in," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 588-603, October.
    10. Anna Aizer & Paul Devereux & Kjell Salvanes, 2022. "Grandparents, Moms, or Dads? Why Children of Teen Mothers Do Worse in Life," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(6), pages 2012-2047.
    11. Adam Ashcraft & Iván Fernández‐Val & Kevin Lang, 2013. "The Consequences of Teenage Childbearing: Consistent Estimates When Abortion Makes Miscarriage Non‐random," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 123, pages 875-905, September.
    12. Damian Clarke, 2018. "Children And Their Parents: A Review Of Fertility And Causality," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 518-540, April.
    13. Marco Francesconi, 2008. "Adult Outcomes for Children of Teenage Mothers," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(1), pages 93-117, March.
    14. Charles Mullin, 2000. "Bounding Causal Effects with Contaminated and Censored Data: Reassessing the Impact of Early Childbearing on Children," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0039, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    15. Joseph J. Sabia, 2007. "Reading, Writing, And Sex: The Effect Of Losing Virginity On Academic Performance," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 45(4), pages 647-670, October.
    16. Bhalotra, Sonia & Clarke, Damian & Walther, Selma, 2022. "Women's Careers and Family Formation," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1120, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    17. Mary A. Silles, 2019. "The Labor Market Consequences Of Teenage Childbearing," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(4), pages 694-713, October.
    18. Ian Walker & Yu Zhu, 2009. "The Causal Effect of Teen Motherhood on Worklessness," Studies in Economics 0917, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    19. Adam Ashcraft & Kevin Lang, 2006. "The Consequences of Teenage Childbearing," NBER Working Papers 12485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Guldi, Melanie, 2016. "Title IX and the education of teen mothers," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 103-116.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:40:y:2005:i:2:p683-715. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://jhr.uwpress.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.