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Summer‐born struggle: The effect of school starting age on health, education, and work

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  • Simone Balestra
  • Beatrix Eugster
  • Helge Liebert

Abstract

Children starting school older consistently exhibit better educational outcomes. In this paper, we underscore child development as a mechanism driving this effect. Using unique administrative data on health examinations, we study the causal effect of school starting age (SSA) on a child's probability of being diagnosed with special educational needs in early grades. Results show that children with higher SSA are less likely to develop behavioral problems and speech impediments, whereas learning disabilities, ADHD, and dyslexia/dyscalculia remain unaffected. Importantly, these effects only arise after primary school entry and are not due to preexisting health conditions. We also find that teachers tend to over‐refer relatively young children to special needs services, but this over‐referring behavior is not driving the results, which are based on psychologists' diagnoses. The SSA effect persists throughout compulsory schooling, resulting in higher test scores and better quality vocational training contracts. However, SSA does not affect employment, earnings, or disability insurance benefits at labor market entry.

Suggested Citation

  • Simone Balestra & Beatrix Eugster & Helge Liebert, 2020. "Summer‐born struggle: The effect of school starting age on health, education, and work," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(5), pages 591-607, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:29:y:2020:i:5:p:591-607
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4005
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    Cited by:

    1. Levasseur, Pierre, 2022. "School starting age and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from Brazil," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    2. Sallin, Aurelién, 2021. "Estimating returns to special education: combining machine learning and text analysis to address confounding," Economics Working Paper Series 2109, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    3. Pierre Levasseur, 2022. "School starting age and nutritional outcomes: Evidence from Brazil," Post-Print hal-03511976, HAL.
    4. Jill Furzer & Elizabeth Dhuey & Audrey Laporte, 2022. "ADHD misdiagnosis: Causes and mitigators," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1926-1953, September.
    5. Aurélien Sallin & Simone Balestra, 2022. "The Earth is Not Flat: A New World of High-Dimensional Peer Effects," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0189, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    6. Costa-Font, Joan & García Hombrados, Jorge & Nicińska, Anna, 2024. "Long-lasting effects of indoctrination in school: evidence from the People's Republic of Poland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 120407, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Joan Costa-i-Font & Jorge García-Hombrados & Anna Nicińska, 2020. "Long-Lasting Effects of Communist Indoctrination in School: Evidence from Poland," CESifo Working Paper Series 8766, CESifo.
    8. Aur'elien Sallin, 2021. "Estimating returns to special education: combining machine learning and text analysis to address confounding," Papers 2110.08807, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2022.

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