Maternal age at first birth and adolescent education in Brazil

Abstract

BACKGROUND Brazil has witnessed dramatic changes in its fertility patterns in recent decades. The decline to below-replacement fertility has been accompanied by increases in the proportion of children born to young mothers. Yet we know little about the well-being of children born to young mothers in Brazil. OBJECTIVE and METHODS Using data from the 2006 Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde and a quasi-natural experimental approach, this study examines the implications of maternal age at first birth for the education of Brazilian adolescents. RESULTS We find that being born to a young mother is associated with educational disadvantages in adolescence, but that these disadvantages are attenuated once we account for mothers’ selection into early childbearing. We also find that, in southern Brazil, adolescents born to young mothers have poorer educational outcomes compared with their peers born to older mothers, but that in northern Brazil no such disparities exist. CONCLUSIONS Adolescent educational disadvantages associated with being born to a young mother are not an artifact of selectivity, at least in southern Brazil. Regional variation in the effect of maternal age at first birth on adolescent education suggests the important role of the extended family and the father’s presence as mechanisms through which disadvantages operate.

Women's Reproductive Intentions and Behaviors during the Zika Epidemic in Brazil

“… Demographers have long been interested in the connections between socioeconomic status and fertility. In the case of Brazil, researchers have shown that both adolescent mothers (Marteleto and Villanueva ) and their children (Marteleto and Dondero ) are educationally disadvantaged compared to women who give birth later (or remain childless) and their children. Research has also shown that Brazilian women with high levels of education tend to have fewer children than women with low levels (Cavenaghi and Berquó ).…”

Underage Brides and Grooms' Education

“…It implies that a high desired fertility may be what attract less educated males towards underage girls as brides. This result reflects the interplay between the usual quantity-quality trade-off (Becker and Lewis (1973);Oliveira (2016)) and the fact that compared to an older bride, a younger bride induces a lower marginal productivity of schooling for offspring (Marteleto and Dondero (2013)), and a lower cost of childbearing which tips the balance in favor of quantity, at the expense of quality.…”

The Educational Consequences of Adolescent Childbearing and Union Formation in Brazil

“…Within this line of thinking, the extended family may also play a role to ameliorate disadvantages associated with adolescent childbearing. When adolescent mothers transfer childcare responsibilities to the extended family and grandparents, young mothers can remain enrolled in school (Johnson‐Hanks ; Kaufman, de Wet, and Stadler ; Marteleto and Dondero ). It is likely that the costs associated with early childbearing might be reduced because a large proportion of adolescent mothers lives in extended households, mainly with their parents or in‐laws (Marteleto and Dondero ).…”

“…In contrast, research suggest that for adolescent mothers who live with the father of their child, father's support was provided within the traditional gender roles of breadwinners and only backup child providers (Molborn and Jacobs ). The role of the extended family in buffering a potential negative penalty in the schooling of adolescent mothers is particularly important in contexts where the extended family provides ample support to mothers; but where such support is greater for single adolescent mothers than for those in a marital union (for Brazil, Marteleto and Dondero ).…”