Teenage childbearing and cognitive development

Abstract.

In this paper we examine how having a child as a teen affects the cognitive development of young women as measured on standardized tests. The research in this paper makes use of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, a biennial survey that contains information on a cohort of young women from the time they were in the 8th grade in 1988 until, the latest wave, 1994. By observing two test scores before a woman has a child and one test score after, we can control for both the level and growth in test scores experienced prior to childbirth. The results indicate that although teenage mothers have lower cognitive test scores than their counterparts without children, the effects of childbearing itself are negligible.