DP10338 Education, HIV, and Early Fertility: Experimental Evidence from Kenya

Author(s):	Esther Duflo, Pascaline Dupas, Michael Kremer
Publication Date:	January 2015
Keyword(s):	education, fertility, HIV, Kenya, pregnancy
JEL(s):	I12, I25, I38, O12
Programme Areas:	Development Economics
Link to this Page:	cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=10338

A seven-year randomized evaluation suggests education subsidies reduce adolescent girls? dropout, pregnancy, and marriage but not sexually transmitted infection (STI). The government?s HIV curriculum, which stresses abstinence until marriage, does not reduce pregnancy or STI. Both programs combined reduce STI more, but cut dropout and pregnancy less, than education subsidies alone. These results are inconsistent with a model of schooling and sexual behavior in which both pregnancy and STI are determined by one factor (unprotected sex), but consistent with a two-factor model in which choices between committed and casual relationships also affect these outcomes.