Teen motherhood and women's later life outcomes: Evidence from South Africa

Abstract

Background: The pathway from teen motherhood to later life outcomes have received considerable attention in both research and political agenda due to its fundamental and pivotal link to life-course and inter-generational development of mothers and their progenies. Very few studies have however, looked beyond educational and economic outcomes. Data source and methods: This paper uses pooled data from four waves of National Income Dynamic Study (NIDS) survey collected from 2008-2014 in South Africa to investigate the impacts of early motherhood on mothers’ later life outcomes using propensity score matching and endogenous treatment techniques which controls for endogeneity. A total of 12203 mothers who have given birth at least once were selected to form the sample with information on their life outcomes, childhood poverty and other background precursors included. The study reveals that teen motherhood has significant negative effects on women’s educational attainment (by -5.2years at 0.1% significance level), economic well-being (-19.9% at 0.1% significance level), psychological well-being (by increasing depression score by 5.2 at 0.1% significance level) and life satisfaction (by -1.24 at 0.1% significance level). Results: Based on the results of the study; proactive, reactive and post-active policy interventions, which require the complementary role of policy-makers, government, parents, service providers and adolescents, are recommended. Conclusions: The insignificant impact on health related outcomes is arguably because of the sample selection bias caused by the high rates of teenage maternal mortality.