Working Paper: NBER ID: w13847
Authors: Jason M. Fletcher; Barbara L. Wolfe
Abstract: The question of whether giving birth as a teenager has negative economic consequences for the mother remains controversial despite substantial research. In this paper, we build upon existing literature, especially the literature that uses the experience of teenagers who had a miscarriage as the appropriate comparison group. We show that miscarriages are not random events, but rather are likely correlated with (unobserved) community-level factors, casting some doubt on previous findings. Including community-level fixed effects in our specifications lead to important changes in our estimates. By making use of information on the timing of miscarriages as well as birth control choices preceding the teenage pregnancies we construct more relevant control groups for teenage mothers. We find evidence that teenage childbearing likely reduces the probability of receiving a high school diploma by 5 to 10 percentage points, reduces annual income as a young adult by $1,000 to $2,400, and may increase the probability of receiving cash assistance and decrease years of schooling.
Keywords: teenage childbearing; economic consequences; community fixed effects; miscarriage; high school diploma; income
JEL Codes: J13; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Teenage childbearing (J13) | Probability of receiving a high school diploma (I21) |
| Teenage childbearing (J13) | Annual income as a young adult (J31) |
| Teenage childbearing (J13) | Likelihood of receiving cash assistance (I38) |
| Teenage childbearing (J13) | Years of schooling (I21) |
| Community fixed effects (C23) | Estimates of teenage childbearing effects (J13) |