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The Effect of Prenatal Natural Disaster Exposure on School Outcomes

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  • Sarah Fuller

Abstract

This study looks at the impact of exposure to natural disasters during pregnancy on the educational outcomes of North Carolina children at the third grade level. A broad literature relates negative birth outcomes to poor educational performance, and a number of recent studies have examined the effect of prenatal exposure to natural disasters on birth outcomes. This study takes the next step by considering how prenatal exposure affects later outcomes. Combining North Carolina administrative data on births and school performance with disaster declarations from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allows for the identification of children who were exposed to disasters during prenatal development. These children are compared with other children born in the same county who were not exposed to disasters while in utero. Regression results suggest that children exposed to hurricanes prenatally have lower scores on third grade standardized tests in math and reading. Those exposed to flooding or tornadoes also have somewhat lower math scores. Additionally, results suggest that these negative effects are more concentrated among children in disadvantaged subgroups, especially children born to black mothers. However, no evidence exists that these effects are mediated by common measures of birth outcomes, including birth weight and gestational age. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

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  • Sarah Fuller, 2014. "The Effect of Prenatal Natural Disaster Exposure on School Outcomes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(4), pages 1501-1525, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:4:p:1501-1525
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-014-0310-0
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    3. Krzysztof Karbownik & Anthony Wray, 2019. "Long-Run Consequences of Exposure to Natural Disasters," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(3), pages 949-1007.
    4. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Jason Fletcher, 2022. "Dust to Feed, Dust to Grey: The Effect of In-Utero Exposure to the Dust Bowl on Old-Age Longevity," NBER Working Papers 30531, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Tian, Xinping & Gong, Jinquan & Zhai, Zhe, 2022. "Natural disasters and human capital accumulation: Evidence from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Khusiman Pun & Kira Villa & Matías Fontenla, 2023. "The impact of Nepal's earthquake on the health status of rural children," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 710-734, May.
    7. Meng-Wen Tsou & Jin-Tan Liu & James K. Hammitt & Chyi-Horng Lu & Szu-Yu Zoe Kao, 2020. "The effect of prenatal exposure to radiation on birth outcomes: exploiting a natural experiment in Taiwan," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 71(3), pages 379-403, July.
    8. Shooshan Danagoulian & Derek Jenkins, 2021. "Rolling back the gains: Maternal stress undermines pregnancy health after Flint's water switch," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(3), pages 564-584, March.

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