AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
A Reason to Wait: The Effect of Legal Status on Teen Pregnancy
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 109,
May 2019
(pp. 213–17)
Abstract
Although teen pregnancy has been on the decline in the United States, it remains among the highest within developed countries. Hispanics, who are more likely to be undocumented immigrants, lead this trend, yet the role of legal status has yet to be considered. To investigate this question, we examine teenage fertility responses to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary legal status to undocumented youth. We find that DACA reduced the likelihood of having a teenage birth by 1.6 percentage points and eliminated roughly half of the gap in teenage childbearing between documented and undocumented women.Citation
Kuka, Elira, Na'ama Shenhav, and Kevin Shih. 2019. "A Reason to Wait: The Effect of Legal Status on Teen Pregnancy." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109: 213–17. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191013Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J18 Demographic Economics: Public Policy
- K37 Immigration Law