Effects of age at first birth on health of mothers aged 45 to 56

Abstract

Employing the data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) for 13 European countries, we analyse the relationship between mother's age at first birth and her health at age 45 to 56. Compared to mothers who gave birth at middle age, we found a significantly higher risk of illness among young first-time mothers. In a first step, we show that this effect largely remains after controlling for selection effects which determine age at first birth. Next, we examine whether the biosocial view could be confirmed. This approach explains the negative effect of early births on later health through a lack of social and economic resources during young mothers' life course. Thus, fewer resources are expected to affect health outcomes. However, the results indicate that the negative effect of young age at first birth remains even after controlling for health-related resources throughout the life course. The operationalisation of health-related resources as well as unobserved effects might be regarded as possible explanations for this. Due to data restrictions, indicators for educational history, job history and social support, that are all likely to depend on age at first birth and also affect later health, could not be taken into account. The results identify mechanisms of cumulative social inequality when disadvantaged women become mothers at younger age and thereby further increase their risk of disease.