N. Ahn, TEENAGE CHILDBEARING AND HIGH-SCHOOL COMPLETION - ACCOUNTING FOR INDIVIDUAL HETEROGENEITY, Family planning perspectives, 26(1), 1994, pp. 17-21
Estimates from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979-1987) i
ndicate that differences in high school completion rates between women
who have a teenage birth and those who do not are affected by the bir
th itself, family background characteristics and individual heterogene
ity. Merely having a teenage birth leads to a 50% reduction in the lik
elihood of high school completion, compared with not having a teenage
birth. Individual heterogeneity accounts for a 42% reduction in the li
kelihood of finishing high school among those who have a birth before
age 17, and a 30% reduction among those who have a birth between ages
17 and 19, compared with those who do not have a teenage birth. Howeve
r, individual heterogeneity accounts for less than 30% of the differen
ce in the likelihood that black teenage mothers will complete school,
compared with more than 50% among Hispanics and whites. Family backgro
und variables, such as maternal education and parental marital stabili
ty, also have positive effects on school completion.