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Research ArticleArticles
Open Access

Teen fertility and siblings’ outcomes: Evidence of family spillovers using matched samples

Jennifer A. Heissel
Published online before print April 10, 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.56.1.0218-9341R2
Jennifer A. Heissel
Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.
Roles: assistant professor
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Abstract

U.S. teen birth rates remain high relative to other industrialized countries. Despite extensive literature on teen mothers and their children, almost no research examines the effects of teen fertility on the rest of the mother’s family. I address this gap, finding that teen birth negatively affects mothers’ younger siblings. Using several matched control methods, I find that sisters of new teenage mothers experience a 3.8 percentage-point decrease in test scores, a 7.6 percentage-point increase in grade repetition, and a 9.3 percentage-point increase high school dropout, while brothers experience a 9.2 percentage-point increase in juvenile justice system exposure.

JEL Codes
  • I21

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY- NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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Teen fertility and siblings’ outcomes: Evidence of family spillovers using matched samples
Jennifer A. Heissel
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2019, DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.1.0218-9341R2

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Teen fertility and siblings’ outcomes: Evidence of family spillovers using matched samples
Jennifer A. Heissel
Journal of Human Resources Apr 2019, DOI: 10.3368/jhr.56.1.0218-9341R2
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Keywords

  • I21
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