The effect of schooling on teenage childbearing: evidence using changes in compulsory education laws

Silles, Mary A.

Abstract

A strong negative correlation is often found between schooling and teenage childbearing. The question at the center of this research is whether this correlation represents a causal relation. This paper uses changes in compulsory schooling laws in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to purge schooling estimates of biases resulting from individual-specific error components correlated with education. The results suggest that increased schooling does appear to reduce the incidence of teenage childbearing. Moreover, the results serve to highlight an important change in the impact of schooling on teenage childbearing following the legislation on contraception in the late 1960s. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.

Citation

Silles, M. A. (2011). The effect of schooling on teenage childbearing: evidence using changes in compulsory education laws. Journal of Population Economics, 24(2), 761-777. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-010-0334-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Sep 2, 2010
• Publication Date: 2011-04
• Deposit Date: Nov 13, 2014
• Journal: Journal Of Population Economics
• Print ISSN: 0933-1433
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 761-777
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00148-010-0334-8
• Keywords: Economics and Econometrics; Demography
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/468453
• Contract Date: Nov 13, 2014