Maternal Exposure to Terrorism and Child Skills Development

Sonkurt Sen ()

CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series from University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: This paper examines the intergenerational effects of maternal exposure to terrorism on early childhood skill development. Using data from the 2018 Turkish Demographic and Health Survey linked to detailed records of terrorist incidents, I measure mothers’ exposure to conflict-related fatalities in their birth cities during early schooling years. I employ a two-stage difference-in-differences estimator that exploits spatial and cohort-level variation in exposure. The results show that maternal exposure to terrorism significantly reduces children’s socio-emotional and physical development, while having no detectable effects on literacy and numeracy. Further analysis suggests that these effects operate through reduced parental investments, lower maternal education andlowerwealth. Severalrobustnesschecks confirm the findings.

Keywords: Skills Development; Terrorism; Human Capital; Early Childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 H56 I25 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56
Date: 2026-05
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_751

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