Abstract
ABSTRACTUtilizing comprehensive administrative data from Norway I investigate long-term birth month effects. I demonstrate that the oldest children in class have a substantially higher GPA than their younger peers. The birth month differences are larger for low-SES children. Furthermore, I find that the youngest children in class are lagging significantly behind their older peers on the educational track, and need more time to reach the same level of earnings.
Highlights
Since most education systems have a single cut-off date for age at school enrollment, the age difference between the youngest and oldest pupils in class is close to one year
The birth month effect is strong for low-SES children, possibly reflecting that parental resources and support may offset the drawback of being relatively young in class
I find that children born late in the year, especially boys, have a significantly lower probability than their older peers in completing high school at age 19, and are less likely to be enrolled into college by age 25
Summary
Since most education systems have a single cut-off date for age at school enrollment, the age difference between the youngest and oldest pupils in class is close to one year. I investigate how birth month effects vary across socioeconomic status This is important since several studies suggest that higher educated parents to a larger extent allocate more time and better support for the child when school performance drops. When utilizing the discontinuity around the cut-off date for school enrollment, I find that starting school younger has a positive effect on graduating from high school at age 19, but no effect on college enrollment (age 25) or earnings at age 30 All together, this suggest that the advantage of a head start on the educational track and in the labor market is offset by negative effects of being born late in the year. By using two different approaches to identify birth month effects, I reconcile findings from existing literature, and show that the relatively youngest in class lag behind their older peers, they catch up by the time they reach the same biological age.
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