TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ashcraft,Adam
AU  - Lang,Kevin
TI  - The Consequences of Teenage Childbearing
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12485
PY  - 2006
Y2  - August 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12485
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12485.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Adam Ashcraft
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
E-Mail: adam.ashcraft@ny.frb.org

Kevin Lang
Department of Economics
Boston University
270 Bay State Road
Boston, MA  02215
Tel: 617/353-5694
Fax: 617/353-4001
E-Mail: lang@bu.edu
AB  - We examine the effect of teenage childbearing on the adult outcomes of a sample of women who gave birth, miscarried or had an abortion as teenagers. If miscarriages are (conditionally) random, then if all miscarriages occur before teenagers can obtain abortions, using the absence of a miscarriage as an instrument for a live birth provides a consistent estimate of the effect of teenage motherhood on women who give birth. If all abortions occur before any miscarriage can occur, OLS on the sample of women who either have a live birth or miscarry provides an unbiased estimate of this effect. Under reasonable assumptions, IV underestimates and OLS overestimates the effect of teenage motherhood on adult outcomes. For a variety of outcomes, the two estimates provide a narrow bound on the effect of teenage motherhood on adult outcomes and which is relatively modest. The bounds can also be combined to provide consistent estimates of the effects of teen motherhood. These effects are generally adverse but modest.
ER  -