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

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  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo

    (Washington and Lee University)

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 program 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 program participation is associated with a much lower probability of experiencing a teenage pregnancy.

Suggested Citation

  • Blunch, Niels-Hugo, 2017. "A Teenager in Love: Multidimensional Human Capital and Teenage Pregnancy in Ghana," IZA Discussion Papers 10663, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10663
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Niels-Hugo Blunch, 2014. "Literacy and numeracy skills and education sector reform: evidence from Ghana," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 209-235, April.
    2. Esther Duflo, 2001. "Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an Unusual Policy Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 795-813, September.
    3. Neeru Gupta & Mary Mahy, 2003. "Adolescent childbearing in sub-Saharan Africa," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 8(4), pages 93-106.
    4. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    5. Ribar, David C., 1993. "A multinomial logit analysis of teenage fertility and high school completion," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 153-164, June.
    6. Niels-Hugo Blunch & Claus C. Pörtner, 2011. "Literacy, Skills, and Welfare: Effects of Participation in Adult Literacy Programs," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(1), pages 17-66.
    7. 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.
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    10. George B. Roberts, Chairman, Universities-National Bureau Committee for Economic Research, 1960. "Demographic and Economic Change in Developed Countries," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number univ60-2, March.
    11. Blunch, Niels-Hugo, 2013. "Staying Alive: Adult Literacy Programs and Child Mortality in Rural Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 114-126.
    12. Card, David, 2001. "Estimating the Return to Schooling: Progress on Some Persistent Econometric Problems," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 69(5), pages 1127-1160, September.
    13. Paul Glewwe, 1999. "Why Does Mother's Schooling Raise Child Health in Developing Countries? Evidence from Morocco," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(1), pages 124-159.
    14. 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.
    15. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
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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

    Keywords

    teenage pregnancy; human capital; literacy; adult literacy programs; Ghana;
    All these keywords.

    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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