Teenage Childbearing and the Welfare State

Andra Filote (), Georgi Kocharkov and Jan Mellert ()
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Andra Filote: Department of Economics, University of Konstanz
Jan Mellert: Department of Economics, University of Konstanz

No 2017-01, Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz from Department of Economics, University of Konstanz

Abstract: Teenage childbearing is a common incident in developed countries. However, the occurrence of teenage births is much more likely in the United States than in any other industrialized coun- try. The majority of these births are delivered by female teenagers coming from low-income families. The hypothesis put forward here is that the welfare state (a set of redistributive in- stitutions) plays a significant role for teenage childbearing behavior. We develop an economic theory of parental investments and risky sexual behavior of teenagers. The model is estimated to fit stylized facts about income inequality, intergenerational mobility and sexual behavior of teenagers in the United States. The welfare state institutions are introduced via tax and pub- lic education expenditure functions derived from U.S. data. In a quantitative experiment, we impose Norwegian taxes and/or education spending in the economic environment. The Nor- wegian welfare state institutions go a long way in explaining the differences in teenage birth rates between the United States and Norway.

Keywords: Teenage risky sexual behavior; teenage birth rates; progressive taxation; education; redistribution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E24 H31 I28 J13 J24 J62 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2017-01-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-mac
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Related works:
Working Paper: Teenage Childbearing and the Welfare State (2015)
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