Teen Fertility and Labor Market Segmentation: Evidence from Madagascar

Catalina Herrera-Almanza (), David Sahn and Kira M. Villa ()
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Catalina Herrera-Almanza: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kira M. Villa: University of New Mexico

No 10464, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Women represent the majority of informal sector workers in developing countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where adolescent pregnancy rates are high. Little empirical evidence exists concerning the relationship between teen fertility and the likelihood that a woman will be employed in the informal sector. Using a panel survey in Madagascar designed to capture the transition from adolescence to adulthood, we estimate a multinomial logit model to capture the effect of the timing of first birth on female selection into four categories: non-participation, informal, formal, and student. To address the endogeneity of fertility and labor market outcomes, we instrument the timing of first birth using young women's community-level access, and duration of exposure to family planning. Our results suggest that motherhood increases the probability of employment for young women and that women whose first birth occurs during adolescence largely select into low-quality informal jobs. This effect is partially, but not entirely, mediated by the effect of teen pregnancy on schooling.

Keywords: female labor force participation; adolescence; informal sector; fertility; Madagascar (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J24 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2016-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-iue
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published - published in: Journal of African Economies, 2019, 28 (3), 277–303

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