IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/demogr/v55y2018i2d10.1007_s13524-018-0664-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Early Childbearing, School Attainment, and Cognitive Skills: Evidence From Madagascar

Author

Listed:
  • Catalina Herrera Almanza

    (Northeastern University)

  • David E. Sahn

    (Cornell University
    Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA))

Abstract

Female secondary school attendance has recently increased in sub-Saharan Africa, and so has the risk of becoming pregnant while attending school. We analyze the impact of teenage pregnancy on young women’s human capital using longitudinal data in Madagascar that capture the transition from adolescence to adulthood for a cohort aged 21–24 in 2012, first interviewed in 2004. We find that early childbearing increases the likelihood of dropping out of school and decreases the chances of completing secondary school. This pregnancy-related school dropout also has a detrimental impact on standardized test scores in math and French. We instrument early pregnancy with the young woman’s community-level access and her exposure to condoms since age 15 after controlling for pre-fertility socioeconomic conditions. Our results are robust to different specifications that address potential endogeneity of program placement and instrument validity.

Suggested Citation

  • Catalina Herrera Almanza & David E. Sahn, 2018. "Early Childbearing, School Attainment, and Cognitive Skills: Evidence From Madagascar," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 643-668, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0664-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-018-0664-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13524-018-0664-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13524-018-0664-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

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

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Glick & Jean Claude Randrianarisoa & David E. Sahn, 2011. "Family background, school characteristics, and children's cognitive achievement in Madagascar," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(4), pages 363-396, February.
    2. Branson, Nicola & Byker, Tanya, 2018. "Causes and consequences of teen childbearing: Evidence from a reproductive health intervention in South Africa," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 221-235.
    3. Pritchett, Lant H. & DEC, 1994. "Desired fertility and the impact of population policies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1273, The World Bank.
    4. Peter J. Glick & David E. Sahn & Thomas F. Walker, 2016. "Household Shocks and Education Investments in Madagascar," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 78(6), pages 792-813, December.
    5. Grant Miller & Kimberly Singer Babiarz, 2016. "Family Planning Program Effects: Evidence from Microdata," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 42(1), pages 7-26, March.
    6. 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.
    7. Grant Miller, 2010. "Contraception as Development? New Evidence from Family Planning in Colombia," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(545), pages 709-736, June.
    8. Grant Miller and Kimberly Singer Babiarz, 2016. "Family Planning Program Effects: A Review of Evidence from Microdata - Working Paper 422," Working Papers 422, Center for Global Development.
    9. 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).
    10. Schultz, T. Paul, 2008. "Population Policies, Fertility, Women's Human Capital, and Child Quality," Handbook of Development Economics, in: T. Paul Schultz & John A. Strauss (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 52, pages 3249-3303, Elsevier.
    11. Kasey S. Buckles & Daniel M. Hungerman, 2018. "The Incidental Fertility Effects of School Condom Distribution Programs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 464-492, June.
    12. Portner, Claus C & Beegle, Kathleen & Christiaensen, Luc, 2011. "Family planning and fertility : estimating program effects using cross-sectional data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5812, The World Bank.
    13. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    14. Ambrus, Attila & Field, Erica, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Scholarly Articles 3200264, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    15. Azevedo, Joao Pedro & Lopez-Calva, Luis F. & Perova, Elizaveta, 2012. "Is the baby to blame ? an inquiry into the consequences of early childbearing," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6074, The World Bank.
    16. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    17. Imbens, Guido W & Angrist, Joshua D, 1994. "Identification and Estimation of Local Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(2), pages 467-475, March.
    18. Petra E. Todd & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2003. "On The Specification and Estimation of The Production Function for Cognitive Achievement," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 3-33, February.
    19. Cally Ardington & Alicia Menendez & Tinofa Mutevedzi, 2011. "Early childbearing, human capital attainment and mortality risk," SALDRU Working Papers 56, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    20. Sarah Baird & Craig McIntosh & Berk Özler, 2011. "Cash or Condition? Evidence from a Cash Transfer Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1709-1753.
    21. Esther Duflo & Pascaline Dupas & Michael Kremer, 2015. "Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(9), pages 2757-2797, September.
    22. Ribar, David C, 1994. "Teenage Fertility and High School Completion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(3), pages 413-424, August.
    23. Pascaline Dupas, 2011. "Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 1-34, January.
    24. Friedman, Willa Helterline, 2018. "Antiretroviral drug access and behavior change," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 392-411.
    25. Daniel Klepinger & Shelly Lundberg & Robert Plotnick, 1999. "How Does Adolescent Fertility Affect the Human Capital and Wages of Young Women?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(3), pages 421-448.
    26. Gustavo Angeles & David Guilkey & Thomas Mroz, 2005. "The determinants of fertility in rural Peru: Program effects in the early years of the national family planning program," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 18(2), pages 367-389, June.
    27. Christina J. Diaz & Jeremy E. Fiel, 2016. "The Effect(s) of Teen Pregnancy: Reconciling Theory, Methods, and Findings," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 85-116, February.
    28. Eva O. Arceo-Gómez & Raymundo M. Campos-Vázquez, 2014. "Teenage Pregnancy in Mexico: Evolution and Consequences," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 51(1), pages 109-146, May.
    29. Lucia Breierova & Esther Duflo, 2003. "The Impact of Education on Fertility and Child Mortality: Do Fathers Really Matter Less Than Mothers?," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 217, OECD Publishing.
    30. Strauss, John & Thomas, Duncan, 1995. "Human resources: Empirical modeling of household and family decisions," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 1883-2023, Elsevier.
    31. Jason M. Fletcher & Barbara L. Wolfe, 2009. "Education and Labor Market Consequences of Teenage Childbearing: Evidence Using the Timing of Pregnancy Outcomes and Community Fixed Effects," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(2).
    32. Owen Ozier, 2018. "The Impact of Secondary Schooling in Kenya: A Regression Discontinuity Analysis," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 53(1), pages 157-188.
    33. Peter Glick & Josée Randriamamonjy & David Sahn, 2009. "Determinants of HIV Knowledge and Condom Use among Women in Madagascar: An Analysis Using Matched Household and Community Data," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 21(1), pages 147-179.
    34. Paton, David, 2002. "The economics of family planning and underage conceptions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 207-225, March.
    35. B. Piedad Urdinola & Carlos Ospino, 2015. "Long-term consequences of adolescent fertility: The Colombian case," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(55), pages 1487-1518.
    36. Pitt, Mark M & Rosenzweig, Mark R & Gibbons, Donna M, 1993. "The Determinants and Consequences of the Placement of Government Programs in Indonesia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 7(3), pages 319-348, September.
    37. Adam Ashcraft & Kevin Lang, 2006. "The Consequences of Teenage Childbearing," NBER Working Papers 12485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. Erica Field & Attila Ambrus, 2008. "Early Marriage, Age of Menarche, and Female Schooling Attainment in Bangladesh," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 881-930, October.
    39. Vimal Ranchhod & David Lam & Murray Leibbrandt & Leticia Marteleto, 2011. "Estimating the effect of adolescent fertility on educational attainment in Cape Town using a propensity score weighted regression," SALDRU Working Papers 59, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    40. World Bank, 2013. "World Development Indicators 2013," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13191, December.
    41. David I. Levine & Gary Painter, 2003. "The Schooling Costs of Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing: Analysis with a Within-School Propensity-Score-Matching Estimator," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 884-900, November.
    42. Dohoon Lee, 2010. "The early socioeconomic effects of teenage childbearing," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 23(25), pages 697-736.
    43. 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.
    44. Jennifer Kane & S. Morgan & Kathleen Harris & David Guilkey, 2013. "The Educational Consequences of Teen Childbearing," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(6), pages 2129-2150, December.
    45. Cally Ardington & Alicia Menendez & Tinofa Mutevedzi, 2015. "Early Childbearing, Human Capital Attainment, and Mortality Risk: Evidence from a Longitudinal Demographic Surveillance Area in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(2), pages 281-317.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Finlay, Jocelyn E., 2021. "Women’s reproductive health and economic activity: A narrative review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    2. Francesca Marchetta & David E Sahn & Luca Tiberti, 2019. "The Role of Weather on Schooling and Work of Young Adults in Madagascar," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(4), pages 1203-1227.
    3. Dominik Schüßler & Torsten Richter & Jasmin Mantilla-Contreras, 2019. "Educational Approaches to Encourage Pro-Environmental Behaviors in Madagascar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-20, June.
    4. Herrera-Almanza, Catalina & Rosales-Rueda, Maria F., 2020. "Reducing the Cost of Remoteness: Community-Based Health Interventions and Fertility Choices," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    5. Heiland, Frank & Korenman, Sanders & Smith, Rachel A., 2019. "Estimating the educational consequences of teenage childbearing: Identification, heterogeneous effects and the value of biological relationship information," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 15-28.

    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. Herrera Catalina & E. Sahn David, 2017. "Working Paper 281 - Early Childbearing, School Attainment and Cognitive Skills," Working Paper Series 2398, African Development Bank.
    2. David SAHN & Catalina HERRERA, 2014. "The Impact of Early Childbearing on Schooling and Cognitive Skills among Young Women in Madagascar," Working Papers 201428, CERDI.
    3. Herrera, Catalina & Sahn, David E. & Villa, Kira M., 2016. "Teen Fertility and Labor Market Segmentation: Evidence from Madagascar," IZA Discussion Papers 10464, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Christina J. Diaz & Jeremy E. Fiel, 2016. "The Effect(s) of Teen Pregnancy: Reconciling Theory, Methods, and Findings," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(1), pages 85-116, February.
    5. Herrera Catalina & E. Sahn David & M. Villa Kira, 2017. "Working Paper 279 - Teen Fertility and Labor Market Segmentation in Madagascar," Working Paper Series 2396, African Development Bank.
    6. Matias Berthelon & Diana I. Kruger, 2017. "Does adolescent motherhood affect education and labor market outcomes of mothers? A study on young adult women in Chile during 1990–2013," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 62(2), pages 293-303, March.
    7. Gunes, Pinar Mine & Tsaneva, Magda, 2020. "The effects of teenage childbearing on education, physical health, and mental distress: evidence from Mexico," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 86(2), pages 183-206, June.
    8. Heiland, Frank & Korenman, Sanders & Smith, Rachel A., 2019. "Estimating the educational consequences of teenage childbearing: Identification, heterogeneous effects and the value of biological relationship information," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 15-28.
    9. Stephanie R. Psaki & Erica Soler-Hampejsek & Jyotirmoy Saha & Barbara S. Mensch & Sajeda Amin, 2019. "The Effects of Adolescent Childbearing on Literacy and Numeracy in Bangladesh, Malawi, and Zambia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(5), pages 1899-1929, October.
    10. Berthelon, Matias & Kruger, Diana, 2014. "The Impact of Adolescent Motherhood on Education in Chile," IZA Discussion Papers 8072, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Murat G. Kırdar & Meltem Dayıoğlu & İsmet Koç, 2018. "The Effects of Compulsory-Schooling Laws on Teenage Marriage and Births in Turkey," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(4), pages 640-668.
    12. Gunes, Pinar & Tsaneva, Magda, 2016. "The Effects of Early Pregnancy on Education, Physical Health and Mental Distress: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers 2016-14, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    13. Devon Gorry, 2019. "Heterogeneous Consequences of Teenage Childbearing," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2147-2168, December.
    14. Eva Rye Johansen & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Mette Verner, 2018. "Long-term Consequences of Early Parenthood," Economics Working Papers 2018-01-, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    15. Devon Gorry, 2023. "Consequences of Teenage Childbearing on Child Outcomes in the United States," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 225-254, January.
    16. Kevin Stange, 2011. "A Longitudinal Analysis of the Relationship Between Fertility Timing and Schooling," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 48(3), pages 931-956, August.
    17. Eva Rye Johansen & Helena Skyt Nielsen & Mette Verner, 2018. "Long-term Consequences of Early Parenthood," Economics Working Papers 2018-01, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    18. Joseph J. Sabia & Joseph P. Price & H. Elizabeth Peters & Reginald Covington, 2018. "The effect on teenage childbearing on social capital development: new evidence on civic engagement," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 629-659, September.
    19. Rosenbaum, Philip, 2020. "Does early childbearing matter? New approach using Danish register data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Miron Tequame & Nyasha Tirivayi, 2015. "Higher education and fertility: Evidence from a natural experiment in Ethiopia," CINCH Working Paper Series 1509, Universitaet Duisburg-Essen, Competent in Competition and Health, revised Aug 2015.

    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:spr:demogr:v:55:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s13524-018-0664-9. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.