School starting age, maternal age at birth, and child outcomes

Peter Fredriksson, Kristiina Huttunen and Björn Öckert

No 139, Working Papers from VATT Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: This paper analyses the effects of maternal school starting age and maternal age-at-birth on children’s short and long-term outcomes using Finnish register data. We exploit a school-starting-age rule for identification. Mothers who are born after the school entry cut-off give birth at higher age, but total fertility and earnings are unaffected. Being born after the cut-off reduces gestation and, hence, child birth weight. The effects on birth weight and gestation are rather small, however, suggesting that the long-run impacts are limited. Accordingly, we find no impacts on longer-term child outcomes, such as educational attainment and adolescent crime rates. Overall, we interpret this evidence as saying that there are no favorable effects of maternal age at birth on child outcomes.

Keywords: school starting age; fertility; maternal age; birth outcomes; education; crime; Local public finance and provision of public services; Koulutus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-eur and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.doria.fi/handle/10024/180497

Related works:
Journal Article: School starting age, maternal age at birth, and child outcomes (2022)
Working Paper: School Starting Age, Maternal Age at Birth, and Child Outcomes (2021)
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