Working Paper: NBER ID: w14118
Authors: Tara Watson; Angela Fertig
Abstract: Alcohol policies have potentially far-reaching impacts on risky sexual behavior, prenatal health behaviors, and subsequent outcomes for infants. We examine whether changes in minimum drinking age (MLDA) laws affect the likelihood of poor birth outcomes. Using data from the National Vital Statistics (NVS) for the years 1978-88, we find that a drinking age of 18 is associated with adverse outcomes among births to young mothers -- including higher incidences of low birth weight and premature birth, but not congenital malformations. The effects are largest among black women. We find suggestive evidence from both the NVS and the 1979 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) that the MLDA laws alter the composition of births that occur. In states with lenient drinking laws, young black mothers are more likely to have used alcohol 12 months prior to the birth of their child and less likely to report paternal information on the birth certificate. We suspect that lenient drinking laws generate poor birth outcomes because they increase the number of unplanned pregnancies.
Keywords: Minimum Drinking Age; Infant Health; Birth Outcomes
JEL Codes: I18; J13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Minimum Drinking Age Laws (I19) | Low Birth Weight (J13) |
| Minimum Drinking Age Laws (I19) | Premature Births (J13) |
| Minimum Drinking Age Laws (I19) | Congenital Anomalies (J13) |
| Lower Drinking Age (K49) | Adverse Infant Health Outcomes (I12) |