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A Teenager in Love: Multidimensional Human Capital and Teenage Pregnancy in Ghana

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  • Niels-Hugo Blunch

Abstract

I examine teenage pregnancy in Ghana, focusing on the role and interplay of Ghanaian and English reading skills, formal educational attainment, and adult literacy programme participation. Pursuing several alternative identification strategies three main results are established. First, I confirm the finding from previous studies that educational attainment is negatively related to teenage pregnancy. Second, however, once Ghanaian and English reading skills are introduced, the association between educational attainment and teenage pregnancy decreases or disappears altogether. Third, for the girls who have not completed primary school, adult literacy programme participation is associated with a much lower probability of experiencing a teenage pregnancy.A bright future is the best contraceptive.–Marian Wright Edelman

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  • Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2018. "A Teenager in Love: Multidimensional Human Capital and Teenage Pregnancy in Ghana," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 557-573, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:54:y:2018:i:3:p:557-573
    DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2017.1308486
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    Cited by:

    1. Niels-Hugo Blunch & Jeffrey S. Hammer, 2018. "The Last of the Lost Generations? Formal and Non-Formal Education in Ghana during Times of Economic Decline and Recovery," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 20(2), pages 35-60.
    2. Blunch, Niels-Hugo & Datta Gupta, Nabanita, 2020. "Mothers’ health knowledge gap for children with diarrhea: A decomposition analysis across caste and religion in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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