Adolescent Motherhood and Secondary Schooling in Chile

Diana Kruger (), Matias Berthelon and Rodrigo Navia
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Diana Kruger: Universidad Adolfo Ibañez
Rodrigo Navia: Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile

No 4552, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We analyze the determinants of adolescent motherhood and its subsequent effect on high school attendance and completion in Chile. Using eight rounds of household surveys, we find that adolescents who were born to teen mothers, those that live in poor households and in single-mother families, are more likely to have children, while access to full-time high schools reduces the likelihood of motherhood. We then estimate the effect of adolescent motherhood on the probability of high school attendance and completion. Using an instrumental variables approach to control for possible endogeneity between teen pregnancy and schooling, we find that being a mother reduces the probability of high school attendance and completion by 24 to 37 percent, making it the most important determinant of high school desertion, which implies that policies aimed at reducing early childbearing will have immediate, important effects on their school attainments.

Keywords: high school desertion; high school completion; adolescent motherhood; Chile (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 O12 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2009-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-edu, nep-lab, nep-lam and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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