JUDITH A. LEVINE,CLIFTON R. EMERY, AND HAROLD POLLACK University of Chicago The Well-Being of Children Born to Teen Mothers Children born to early child bearers are more likely than other children to display problem behaviors or poor academic performance, but it is unclear whether early childbearing plays a causal role in these outcomes. Using multiple techniques to control for background factors, we analyze 2,908 young children and 1,736 adolescents and young adults in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults (CNLSY79) data sets to examine whether early childbearing causes children’s outcomes. We find evidence that teen childbearing plays no causal role in children’s test scores and in some behavioral outcomes of adolescents. For other behavioral outcomes, we find that different methodologies produce differing results. We thus suggest cau- tion in drawing conclusions about early parent- hood’s overarching effect. Teenage parenthood is often blamed as a root cause of social ills in American society. As dis- cussed below, some members of the academic community have at times supported the view that early fertility produces detrimental effects for children born to young mothers. Other investiga- tors have argued the opposite, that adolescent childbearing plays no causal role in negative outcomes. In his 1999 Population Association of America presidential address, Cherlin (1999) warned that extreme opposing views of demo- graphic effects impede understanding of social phenomena. Strongly opposing conclusions about teen parenting effects on children that exist across studies appear to illustrate Cherlin’s warning. They may distract research and policy attention away from the complexities of the relationship between fertility timing and out- comes. In this article, we use multiple methods to study maternal age at first birth effects on a variety of children’s outcomes and for a wide age span of children to adjudicate between strongly opposing claims regarding teen parent- ing’s effects. Research consistently shows a strong correla- tion between teen parenting and many adverse outcomes for children born to young mothers (Hayes, 1987; Maynard, 1997). The literature reaches far less definitive conclusions about whether this relationship is actually causal (for a review, see Hoffman, 1998). Several analysts find evidence in support of a causal effect. Cooksey (1997) finds no effects of teen childbearing on subsequent children’s mathematical ability but does find effects for reading recognition and comprehension. These effects decrease with the inclusion of mother’s employment status, existence of siblings, and home environment. Moore, Morrison, and Greene (1997) find teen childbearing effects on academic tests, young children’s behavior prob- lems, and home environment. Grogger (1997) compares children born to women when they are teens with children born later to mothers who began childbearing as adolescents and finds effects on male incarceration rates. Haveman, Wolfe, and Peterson (1997) and Hardy, Shapiro, Astone, Miller, and Brooks-Gunn (1997) find ef- fects on educational attainment, early fertility, and economic outcomes. Hofferth and Reid School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 (jlevine@ uchicago.edu). Key Words: adolescents, adolescent parents, child develop- ment, low-income families, National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, school achievement. Journal of Marriage and Family 69 (February 2007): 105–122 105