Economics
The effects of teenage childbearing on education, physical health, and mental distress: Evidence from Mexico
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This paper estimates the effects of teenage childbearing on education, working, physical and mental health, and physical activity of young girls in Mexico using two waves of the nationally representative Mexican Family Life Survey. We employ a propensity score matching model that accounts for a rich set of baseline covariates that predict teenage childbearing to attempt to reduce the bias due to confounding variables associated with teenage childbearing. The results demonstrate that teenage childbearing is associated with an increase in the probability of being overweight, and reductions in physical activity and the probability of high school completion. Moreover, the results are consistent when we employ sibling fixed effects to account for unobservable family background.
Publication Title
Journal of Demographic Economics
Publication Date
6-2020
Volume
86
Issue
2
First Page
183
Last Page
206
ISSN
2054-0892
DOI
10.1017/dem.2020.2
Keywords
bounding, early pregnancy, health, Mexico, propensity score
Repository Citation
Gunes, Pinar Mine and Tsaneva, Magda, "The effects of teenage childbearing on education, physical health, and mental distress: Evidence from Mexico" (2020). Economics. 208.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_economics/208
