Causal Impact of School Starting Age on the Tempo of Childbirths: Evidence from Working Mothers and School Entry Cutoff Using Exact Date of Birth

Insu Chang (), Heeran Park () and Hosung Sohn ()
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Insu Chang: Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs
Heeran Park: Seoul National University
Hosung Sohn: Chung-Ang University

European Journal of Population, 2021, vol. 37, issue 4, No 9, 997-1022

Abstract: Abstract Many studies show that females’ age at first childbirth affects important outcomes of these females and their offspring such as health- and socioeconomic-related variables. This paper analyzes whether there is a causal relationship between working mothers’ school entry age and the timing at which they give birth by exploiting Korea’s elementary school entry cutoff regulation. Using administrative employment insurance data that record the fertility history of female working mothers together with regression discontinuity design, we find that a year’s delay in age at school starting increases age at first and second childbirth by approximately 3 and 4 months, respectively. We also find that one of the mechanisms that affects the relationship between these two variables is age at first employment. The estimated effects of SSA are likely to be salient in a country where educational sequence that a student experience is rigid.

Keywords: School starting age; Fertility tempo; Age at first employment; Regression discontinuity design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1007/s10680-021-09597-x

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