A multinomial logit analysis of teenage fertility and high school completion

Abstract

This paper examines economic, institutional and sociological antecedents of high school completion and adolescent fertility using data on women from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth A multinomial logit model is estimated in which the dependent variable represents combinations of high school completion and early fertility outcomes Benefits from various government assistance programs and earnings differences attributable to high school completion are included as potential economic determinants Of these variables, welfare generosity appears to have a significant positive effect on adolescent childbearing. Other variables including family planning clinic availability, family background, religiousness, physical maturity, race and ethnicity are also found to be important determinants of teenage parenthood and educational attainment.