The Impact of Early Childbearing and Child Health in Punjab

Abstract

Early Childbearing is a major social and public health concern. Empirical studies have focused on both the consequences and causes of early childbearing. Much of the empirical work has focused on the impact of early childbearing on children’s developmental and academic outcomes. However, there is limited research pertaining to the effect of early childbearing on child health outcomes in Pakistan. Using the newly available data, Multiple Index Cluster Survey for Punjab 2014; the paper aims to test if early childbearing affects child health outcomes, both in the short and long term. In addition to this, studies have established that the decision of early childbearing is influenced by a wide array of factors which include individual and household level characteristics as well as social and cultural norms. The paper also deals with the issue of omitted variable bias concerning early childbearing.