Age at motherhood and child development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort

Denise Hawkes and Heather Joshi

No 8906, Greenwich Papers in Political Economy from University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre

Abstract: Age at entry to motherhood is increasingly socially polarised in the UK. Early childbearing typically occurs among women from disadvantaged backgrounds relative to women with later first births. The Millennium Cohort finds differentials in their children's development, cognitive and behavioural, at age 5, by mother's age. These could be due to difficulties facing immature mothers, but much of it is attributable to young mothers’ social origins, or inequalities apparent at the age 0 survey, which may also have had earlier origins. The developmental penalty left to be attributed to the mother's age per se is, at most, modest.

Keywords: child cognitive development; behavioural adjustment; teenage motherhood; maternal age; Millennium Cohort Study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-10
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published in National Institute Economic Review 1.222(2012): pp. R52-R66

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Journal Article: Age at Motherhood and Child Development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort (2012)
Journal Article: Age at Motherhood and Child Development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort (2012)
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