Lay Summaries

Key words

COVID-19, first wave, births, Europe

Summary in 3 sentences

I gave an interview (in Slovak) about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected fertility in different European countries. Spain, Italy, and Slovakia saw a drop in births in December 2020 and in January 2021 (a result of fewer conceptions during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, in March and April 2020); Czech Republic did not see any change; while Germany saw a temporary increase in fertility (only) in December 2020. In all these countries, there has been a recovery and an increase in fertility starting from February 2021 (a result of additional conceptions after the first wave, in June and July 2020).

Key words

COVID-19, lockdown, births, Spain

Summary in 3 sentences

Libertad González and I wrote a blog post (in Spanish) about how the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic affected fertility in Spain. A drastic drop in births by 20% in December 2020 and January 2021 (a result of fewer conceptions in March and April 2020) was followed by a recovery in February 2021 and an "overshooting" fertility in March and April 2021 (a result of additional conceptions in June and July 2020). In December 2020 and January 2021, 10.000 fewer children were born than usually and in March and April 2021, 4.000 more children were born than usually.

Key words

birth weight, cash transfer, preconception period, Spain

Summary in 3 sentences

We know that the weight with which a baby is born determines her/his health in childhood and life-long success (health, education, income). Researchers have found that cash transfers received by disadvantaged mothers (single and/or low-income women) during pregnancy led to fewer small babies and more babies with regular birth weight in the U.S. and in Latin America. In our paper, Libertad González and I find that a cash transfer of 2,500 € received by disadvantaged women even before pregnancy had the same effect in Spain in the late 2000s (we find no such effect among high-income and married women).

Blog post

This blog post summarizes the findings of my recently published article where I investigate the impact of teenage pregnancies on survival chances of children born to child brides in Bangladesh.

Key words

child marriages, teenage pregnancies, early childhood mortality, Bangladesh

Summary in 3 sentences

Child marriages remain a pervasive problem in developing countries even in the 21^st century. One of the negative consequences are also teenage pregnancies, which lead to higher mortality of children born to very young mothers. According to my latest article, an estimated 18,700 deaths of under-5 children could be prevented every year in Bangladesh if adolescent pregnancies were avoided.

A bit more detail

Approximately 34% of young women in developing countries – 14-15 million girls every year – marry before reaching 18 years of age, according to UNFPA. These marriages lead to pregnancies and child births at an early age, which are negatively associated both with mother’s and child’s health. In my recently published article, I investigate the impact of adolescent childbearing on survival chances of infants and young children born to child brides in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has the highest rate of child marriages in Asia (and the third highest rate worldwide) as 2 in 3 women marry as children or adolescents there.

The main result that I find is that the survival chances of children born to mothers when they are 20-24 years old are 56% higher in infant period (first year of life) and 24% higher in child period (1-5 years old children) when we compare these children to their older siblings who were born in mother’s very young age (10-14 years). In other words, children born to very young mothers are much more likely to die. These effects either persist or become even larger when I compare children born to very young mothers (10-14 years) to their younger siblings who are born to the same mother at a higher age (25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49 years).

Based on these results, I estimate that approximately 12,900 infant deaths (first year of life) and 18,700 under-5 deaths (first five years of life) could be prevented every year in Bangladesh if adolescent pregnancies were avoided. These effects can be directly attributed to the practice of child marriages.

Popular research summary

This popular research summary shows the findings of our recent working paper where Libertad Gonzalez and I investigate the impact of a birth subsidy (paid to mothers at birth of their child) on birth rate and abortion rate in Spain in the late 2000s.

Key words

birth subsidies, birth rate, abortion rate, Spain

Summary in 3 sentences

Subsidies paid to mothers at birth of their child are part of family policies in many countries. We look at the specific case of Spain which introduced a generous benefit of 2,500 € at birth of a child in 2007, and cancelled it in 2010/2011. We find that women in Spain reacted to this financial incentive: the birth rate increased after the introduction and decreased after the cancellation of this subsidy, and approximately 70,000 more children were born in Spain in 2007-2010 thanks to this policy.

Key words

education effects, intergenerational effects, attitudes towards domestic violence, Turkey

Summary in 3 sentences

Education of one person can affect lives of people around them – our parents’ and even our peers’ education affects our own education, opinions or standard of living. What Selim Gulesci, Erik Meyersson, and I show in our article is that also children’s education can affect their parents. We find that daughters’ education in Turkey influences their mothers’ opinion about domestic violence (mothers of more educated girls find domestic violence less acceptable); we find no such effect when we look at sons’ education.

Press coverage

Previous version of this article was featured in The Economist, The Washington Post, Le Monde, and elsewhere in 2012 and in The Guardian in 2015.

Key words

ITN bed nets, malaria, infant mortality, Kenya

Summary in 3 sentences

Improved bed nets which are impregnated with insecticides (so-called ITN bed nets) should protect people in areas with malaria from getting this disease. In our article, Gabriel Demombynes and I look at the impact of having an ITN bed net on child health in Kenya and we find that babies in their first year of life have better survival chances if their families have an ITN bed net. It is important to note that this effect is found only in areas of Kenya that have high malaria prevalence; in areas with low or medium malaria prevalence, having an ITN does not improve babies’ survival.