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The impact of young motherhood on education, employment and marriage

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  • Bradbury, Bruce

Abstract

The poor socio-economic outcomes of women who have their first child when young are well documented. However, the policy implications of this association depend upon the causal mechanisms that underlie it. Recent studies in the US and UK have used miscarriage as an instrument to identify the direct causal impact of young childbearing – with US research suggesting that early child-bearing may even have a beneficial impact upon mother’s outcomes. This paper uses this method to examine this issue for a new Australian panel of young women. No evidence is found for an adverse impact of young childbirth on education, labour market, income or location. Instead these outcomes follow the patterns that might be expected on the basis of selection effects. On the other hand, young motherhood does have an impact on partnering outcomes. Being a young mother reduces the likelihood of being legally married (instead of defacto partnered) when aged in the late 20s. Also, having a child in the early rather than late 20s leads to a greater likelihood of being a lone parent at around age 30.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradbury, Bruce, 2006. "The impact of young motherhood on education, employment and marriage," MPRA Paper 1419, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:1419
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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/1419/1/MPRA_paper_1419.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    2. 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).
    3. repec:fth:prinin:455 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Joshua D. Angrist & Alan B. Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 69-85, Fall.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. John Ermisch & David Pevalin, 2005. "Early motherhood and later partnerships," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(3), pages 469-489, September.
    9. Bruce Bradbury, 2006. "Disadvantaged among Australian young mothers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 9(2), pages 147-171, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Trinh Le & Guyonne Kalb & Felix Leung, 2015. "Outcomes for teenage mothers in the first years after birth," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 18(3), pages 255-279.
    2. Dinand Webbink & Nicholas Martin & Peter Visscher, 2011. "Does teenage childbearing reduce investment in human capital?," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 701-730, April.
    3. Bruce Bradbury, 2006. "Disadvantaged among Australian young mothers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 9(2), pages 147-171, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    teenage mothers; miscarriage;

    JEL classification:

    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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