PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Huang, Wei AU - Lei, Xiaoyan AU - Shen, Guangjun AU - Sun, Ang TI - Beyond Nature and Nurture AID - 10.3368/jhr.0220-10720R4 DP - 2023 Oct 06 TA - Journal of Human Resources PG - 0220-10720R4 4099 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/10/02/jhr.0220-10720R4.short 4100 - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2023/10/02/jhr.0220-10720R4.full AB - The impact of maternal education on child health has been well documented. Using the variations in exposure to China’s Compulsory Schooling Law (CSL), we find that education induced a lower incidence of teenage pregnancy and a higher likelihood of induced abortion following prenatal checkups. A back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that these channels could explain 45% of the birth defect decline induced by the CSL. The findings suggest that in countries where abortions are allowed, maternal education improves child health by decreasing pregnancy at an immature age and selection against abnormal/unhealthy fetuses.