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A Reason to Wait: The Effect of Legal Status on Teen Pregnancy

Author

Listed:
  • Elira Kuka
  • Na'ama Shenhav
  • Kevin Shih

Abstract

Although teen pregnancy has been on the decline in the United States, it remains among the highest within developed countries. Hispanics, who are more likely to be undocumented immigrants, lead this trend, yet the role of legal status has yet to be considered. To investigate this question, we examine teenage fertility responses to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary legal status to undocumented youth. We find that DACA reduced the likelihood of having a teenage birth by 1.6 percentage points and eliminated roughly half of the gap in teenage childbearing between documented and undocumented women.

Suggested Citation

  • Elira Kuka & Na'ama Shenhav & Kevin Shih, 2019. "A Reason to Wait: The Effect of Legal Status on Teen Pregnancy," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 213-217, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:109:y:2019:p:213-17
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191013
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Gihleb, Rania & Giuntella, Osea & Lonsky, Jakub, 2023. "Dreaming of leaving the nest? Immigration status and the living arrangements of DACAmented," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. Gunadi, Christian, 2022. "The Fertility Effect of Laws Granting Undocumented Migrants Access to Driving Licenses in the United States," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1094, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Joan Monras & Eduardo Polo-Muro & Javier Vazquez-Grenno, 2023. "Labor Market Stability and Fertility Decisions," Working Paper Series 2023-36, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
    4. Hasager, Linea, 2024. "Does granting refugee status to family-reunified women improve their integration?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law

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