Early Childbearing, Human Capital Attainment, and Mortality Risk: Evidence from a Longitudinal Demographic Surveillance Area in Rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Abstract

Using a rich longitudinal dataset, we examine the relationship between teen fertility and both subsequent educational outcomes and HIV related mortality risk in rural South Africa. Human capital deficits among teen mothers are large and significant, with earlier births associated with greater deficits. In contrast to many other studies from developed countries, we find no clear evidence of selectivity into teen childbearing in either schooling trajectories or pre-fertility household characteristics. Enrolment rates among teen mothers only begin to drop in the period immediately preceding the birth and future teen mothers are not behind in their schooling relative to other girls. Older teen mothers and those further ahead in school for their age pre-birth are more likely to continue schooling after the birth. In addition to adolescents’ higher biological vulnerability to HIV infection, pregnancy also appears to increase the risk of contracting HIV. Following women over an extended period, we document a higher HIV related mortality risk for teen mothers that cannot be explained by household characteristics in early adulthood. Controlling for age at sexual debut, we find that teen mothers report lower condom use and older partners than other sexually active adolescents.

Are out‐of‐school adolescents at higher risk of adverse health outcomes? Evidence from 9 diverse settings in sub‐Saharan Africa

“…Late adolescence, in particular, appears a 'critical period' to promote enrolment or retention with implications for health across the life course [67]. During late adolescence, people develop new behavioural patterns; they acquire new skills [3]; they make their own decisions for the first time; and many of these decisions have particularly high path dependence, including pregnancy [68]. Investments in schooling during this period could improve health and engender adolescents' capabilities to lead fulfilling lives [69], especially since we see a substantial fall-off in school enrolment after age 15.…”

Identifying Causal Effects of Reproductive Health Improvements on Women's Economic Empowerment Through the Population Poverty Research Initiative

“…In the context of rural KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa, PopPov‐supported research by Ardington and colleagues found that teen mothers (younger than age 20) had worse educational and health outcomes than their peers who did not have a teen birth . Moreover, they found that fertility timing matters, with first birth in earlier teen years (under age 17) having more pronounced negative effects on educational outcomes than in later teen years (ages 17‐19).…”

MicroCOSM: a model of social and structural drivers of HIV and interventions to reduce HIV incidence in high-risk populations in South Africa

“…In setting these assumptions, we have not attempted to adjust for dropout related to pregnancy, although this is allowed for separately in the model (see section 3.5.4). However, pregnancy is not expected to have a major impact on average rates of dropout in girls, because most girls return to school after their pregnancy [82, 87, 88]. This is verified in the model calibration (section 3.5.8), which suggests that only about 15% of girls who drop out of school permanently do so because of pregnancy.…”