Although the consequences of teen births for both mothers and children have been studied for decades, few studies have taken a broader look at the potential payoffs—and drawbacks—of being born to older mothers. A broader examination is important given the growing gap in maternal ages at birth for children born to mothers with low and high socioeconomic status. Drawing data from the Children of the NLSY79, our examination of this topic distinguishes between the value for children of being born to a mother who delayed her first birth and the value of the additional years between her first birth and the birth of the child whose achievements and behaviors at ages 10–13 are under study. We find that each year the mother delays a first birth is associated with a 0.02 to 0.04 standard deviation increase in school achievement and a similar-sized reduction in behavior problems. Coefficients are generally as large for additional years between the first and given birth. Results are fairly robust to the inclusion of cousin and sibling fixed effects, which attempt to address some omitted variable concerns. Our mediational analyses show that the primary pathway by which delaying first births benefits children is by enabling mothers to complete more years of schooling.

Although school attainment is a cumulative process combining mastery of both academic and behavioral skills, most studies have offered only a piecemeal view of the associations between middle childhood capacities and subsequent schooling outcomes. Using a 20-year longitudinal dataset, this study estimates the association between children’s academic skills, anti-social behaviors and attention problems, all averaged across middle childhood, and their long-term educational outcomes. After adjusting for family and individual background measures, we find that high average levels of math and reading achievement, and low average levels of anti-social behavior problems, are positively associated with later attainment. Associations between attention problems and attainment are small. Associations are attenuated somewhat when sibling differences in these skills and behaviors are related to sibling differences in attainment outcomes.

PURPOSE High levels of adolescent substance use are linked to lower academic achievement, reduced schooling, and delinquency. We assess four types of out-of-school-time (OST) contexts—unsupervised time with peers, sports, organized activities, and paid employment–in relation to tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use at the end of high school. Other research has examined these OST contexts in isolation, limiting efforts to disentangle potentially confounded relations. METHODS Longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N=766) examined associations between different OST contexts during high school and substance use at the end of high school. RESULTS Unsupervised time with peers increased the odds of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use whereas sports increased the odds of alcohol use and decreased the odds of marijuana use. Paid employment increased the odds of tobacco and alcohol use. Unsupervised time with peers predicted increased amounts of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use, while sports predicted decreased amounts of tobacco and marijuana use and increased amounts of alcohol use at the end of high school. CONCLUSIONS Although unsupervised time with peers, sports, and paid employment were differentially linked to the odds of substance use, only unsupervised time with peers and sports were significantly associated with the amount of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use at the end of high school. These findings underscore the value of considering OST contexts in relation to strategies to promote adolescent health. Reducing unsupervised time with peers and increasing sports participation may have positive impacts on reducing substance use.

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Effects associated with early child care and out-of-school time (OST) during middle childhood were examined in a large sample of U.S. adolescents (N = 958). Both higher quality early child care AND more epochs of organized activities (afterschool programs and extracurricular activities) during middle childhood were linked to higher academic achievement at age 15. Differential associations were found in the behavioral domain. Higher quality early child care was associated with fewer externalizing problems, whereas more hours of early child care was linked to greater impulsivity. More epochs of organized activities was associated with greater social confidence. Relations between early child care and adolescent outcomes were not mediated or moderated by OST arrangements in middle childhood, consistent with independent, additive relations of these nonfamilial settings.