Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T15:42:30.644Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Age at Motherhood and Child Development: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2020

Denise Hawkes  and
Heather Joshi
Denise Hawkes
Affiliation:
Department of International Business and Economics, University of Greenwich and Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London
Heather Joshi*
Affiliation:
Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London
*
E-mail: H.Joshi@ioe.ac.uk. We are indebted to the participants of the Millennium Cohort Study and to all who contributed to producing this data source, but particularly Kelly Ward and Rachel Rosenberg for their work on derived variables. We thank the ESRC for funding this research (RES-163-25-0002) and, along with the ONS-led consortium of government departments, for funding the MCS. Thanks are also due to participants at the UPTAP conferences in 2007 and 2008, the ESPE conference 2010, the BSPS conference 2010 and the anonymous referees for comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are our own.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Age at entry to motherhood is increasingly socially polarised in the UK. Early childbearing typically occurs among women from disadvantaged backgrounds relative to women with later first births. The Millennium Cohort finds differentials in their children's development, cognitive and behavioural, at age 5, by mother's age. These could be due to difficulties facing immature mothers, but much of it is attributable to young mothers’ social origins, or inequalities apparent at the age 0 survey, which may also have had earlier origins. The developmental penalty left to be attributed to the mother's age per se is, at most, modest.

Keywords

Child cognitive developmentbehavioural adjustmentteenage motherhoodmaternal ageMillennium Cohort StudyJ13
Type
Research Articles
Information
National Institute Economic Review , Volume 222 , October 2012 , pp. R52 - R66
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, I. and Bourke Dowling, S. (1998), Teenage Mothers: Decisions and Outcomes, London, Policy Studies Institute.Google Scholar
Beets, G., Schippers, J. and te Velde, E.R. (eds) (2011), The Future of Motherhood in Western Societies: Late Fertility and its Consequences, Springer, NL.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berrington, A., Diamond, I., Ingham, R., Stevenson, J., Borgoni, R., Cobos Hernandezi, M.I. and Smith, P.W.F. (2005), Consequences of Teenage Parenthood: Pathways which minimise the long term negative impacts of teenage childbearing. Final Report – November 2005, University of Southampton publication for the Department of Health.Google Scholar
Blanden, J., Goodman, A., Gregg, P. and Machin, S. (2005), ‘Changes in intergenerational mobility in Britain’, in Corak, M. (ed.), Generational Income Mobility in North America and Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 112–47.Google Scholar
Bonnell, C. (2004), ‘Why is teenage pregnancy conceptualized as a social problem? A review of quantitative research from the USA and UK’, Culture, Health & Sexuality, 6, 3, May–June, pp. 255–272CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buxton, J., Clarke, L., Grundy, E. and Marshall, C.E. (2005), ‘The long shadow of childhood: associations between parental social class and own social class, educational attainment and timing of first birth; results from the ONS Longitudinal Study’, Population Trends, 121, October, pp. 17–26.Google Scholar
Bynner, J. and Parsons, S. (1999), Young People not in Employment, Education or Training and Social Exclusion: Analysis of the 1970 Cohort Study, London, Social Exclusion Unit.Google Scholar
Chandola, T., Coleman, D.A. and Hiorns, R.W. (2002), ‘Distinctive features of age-specific fertility profiles in the English-speaking world: common patterns in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, 1970–98’, Population Studies, 53, pp. 317–29.Google Scholar
Cooksey, E., Joshi, H. and Verropoulou, G. (2009), ‘Does mothers’ employment affect children's development? Evidence from the children of the British 1970 Birth Cohort and the American NLSY79’, Longitudinal and Life Course Studies: International Journal, 1, 1, pp. 95–115.Google Scholar
Elliott, C.D. (1996), The British Ability Scales II, Windsor, Berkshire, NFER-NELSON Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Ermisch, J. and Pevalin, D. (2003a), ‘Who has a child as a teenager?’, ISER Working Paper 2003–30, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester.Google Scholar
Ermisch, J. and Pevalin, D. (2003b), ‘Does a teen birth have longer-term impact on the mother? Evidence for the 1970 British Cohort Study’, ISER Working Paper 2003–28, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Colchester.Google Scholar
Ermisch, J. and Pevalin, D. (2005), ‘Early motherhood and later partnerships’, Journal of Population Economics, 18, September, pp. 469–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feinstein, L. (2003), ‘Inequality in the early cognitive development of British children in the 1970 Cohort’, Economica, 70 (277), pp. 73–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frejka, T. and Sardon, J.-P. (2006), ‘First birth trends in developed countries: persisting parenthood postponement’, Demographic Research, 15, 6, pp. 147–80, http://www.demographic-research.org/Volumes/Vol15/6/CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Futing Liao, T. (2003), ‘Mental health, teenage motherhood, and age at first birth among British women in the 1990s’, ISER Working Paper 2003–33, Colchester, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex.Google Scholar
Geronmius, A. and Korenman, S. (1992), ‘The socioeconomic consequences of teen childbearing reconsidered’, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107, pp. 1187–214.Google Scholar
Geronimus, A, Korenman, S. and Hillemeier, M, (1994), ‘Does young maternal age adversely affect child development? Evidence from cousin comparisons in the United States’, Population and Development Review, 20, 3, September, pp. 585–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, A., Kaplan, G. and Walker, I. (2004), ‘Understanding the effects of early motherhood in Britain: the effects on mothers’, Working paper 04/20, London, Institute for Fiscal Studies.Google Scholar
Goodman, R. (1997), ‘The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: a research note’, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), pp. 581–6, see also: www.sdqinfo.comCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gregg, P., Harkness, S. and Machin, S. (1999), Child Development and Family Income, York, Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Gregg, P., Washbrook, E., Propper, C, and Burgess, S. (2005), ‘The effects of a mother's return to work decision on child development in the UK’, The Economic Journal, 115, February, F49–F80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K. (2010), Millennium Cohort Study. A Guide to the Datasets, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London.Google Scholar
Hansen, K., Hawkes, D. and Joshi, H. (2009), ‘The timing of motherhood, mother's employment and child outcomes’, in Stillwell, J., Coast, E. and Kneale, D. (eds), Fertility, Living Arrangements, Care and Mobility, Understanding Population Trends and Processes Volume 1, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4020-9681-5, pp. 59–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K., Joshi, H. and Dex, S. (eds) (2010), Children of the 21st Century: The First 5 Years, Bristol, The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Hawkes, D. (2003), ‘Education, earnings, ability and early child bearing: evidence from a sample of UK twins’, PhD Thesis, Queen Mary, University of London.Google Scholar
Hawkes, D. (2008), ‘The UK Millennium Cohort Study: the circumstances of early motherhood’, in Edwards, R. (ed.), Researching Families and Communities: Social and Generational Change, Abingdon, Routledge, pp. 147–63.Google Scholar
Hawkes, D. and Joshi, H. (2011), ‘Unequal entry to motherhood and unequal outcomes: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort’, CLS Working Paper 2011/3, Institute of Education.Google Scholar
Hawkes, D., Joshi, H. and Ward, K. (2004), ‘Unequal entry to motherhood and unequal starts in life: evidence from the first survey of the UK Millennium Cohort’, CLS Cohort Studies, Working Paper 6, http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/core/documents/download.asp?id=299&log_stat=1Google Scholar
Hobcraft, J. and Kiernan, K.E. (2001), ‘Childhood poverty, early motherhood and adult social exclusion’, The British Journal of Sociology, 52(3), pp. 495–517.Google ScholarPubMed
Hofferth, S.L. and Reid, L. (2002), ‘Early childbearing and children's achievement and behavior over time’, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 34, 1, Jan.-Feb., pp. 41–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kiernan, K.E. (1997), ‘Becoming a young parent: a longitudinal study of associated factors’, British Journal of Sociology, 48, pp. 406–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiernan, K.E. and Diamond, I. (1983), ‘The age at which childbearing starts – a longitudinal study’, Population Studies, 37(3), pp. 363–80.Google Scholar
Kneale, D. (2009), ‘Early parenthood: definition and prediction in two British cohorts’, in Stillwell, J., Coast, E. and Kneale, D. (eds), Fertility, Living Arrangements, Care and Mobility, Understanding Population Trends and Processes Volume 1, Springer, ISBN 978-1-4020-9681-5, 81–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneale, D. and Joshi, H. (2008), ‘Postponement and childlessness: evidence from two British cohorts’, Demographic Research, 19, pp. 1935–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, A. (2009), ‘Motherhood delay and the human capital of the next generation’, American Economic Review, 99, 2, May, pp. 154–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, A. (2011), ‘The effects of motherhood timing on career path’, Journal of Population Economics, 24, 3, pp. 1071–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ONS (2012), Births and Deaths in England and Wales (provisional), http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_270569.pdfGoogle Scholar
Pevalin, D.A. (2003), ‘Outcomes in childhood and adulthood by mother's age at birth: evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study’, ISER Working Paper 2003–31, Colchester, Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Essex.Google Scholar
Plewis, I. (2007), Millennium Cohort Study: Technical report on sampling, Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London. http://www.cls.ioe.ac.uk/studies.asp?section=00010002000100050004Google Scholar
Rendall, M.S., Couet, C., Lappegard, T., Robert-Bobée, I., Rønsen, M. and Smallwood, S. (2005), ‘First births by age and education in Britain, France, and Norway’, Population Trends, 121, pp. 27–34.Google Scholar
Rendall, M.S., Ekert-Jaffé, O., Joshi, H., Lynch, K. and Mougin, R. (2009), ‘Universal versus economically polarized change in age at first birth: a French-British comparison’, Population and Development Review, 35, 1, pp. 89–115.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rendall, M. and Smallwood, S. (2003), ‘Higher qualifications, first-birth timing, and further childbearing in England and Wales’, Population Trends, 111, pp. 18–26.Google Scholar
Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) (1999), Teenage Pregnancy, London, TSO.Google Scholar
Turley, R.L. (2003), ‘Are children of young mothers disadvantaged because of their mother's age or family background?’, Child Development, 74 (2), pp. 465–74.Google ScholarPubMed
Verropoulou, G. and Joshi, H. (2009), ‘Does mothers’ employment conflict with child development? Multilevel analysis of British mothers born in 1958’, Journal of Population Economics, 22, 3, pp. 665–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webbink, D., Martin, N.G., and Visscher, P.M. (2011), ‘Does Teenage Childbearing Reduce Investment in Human Capital?’,Google Scholar
Wellings, K., Wadsworth, J., Johnson, A. and Field, J. (1996), Teenage Sexuality, Fertility and Life Chances, London, Department of Health.Google Scholar