The Effects of Sex Education on Teen Sexual Activity and Teen Pregnancy

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Abstract
This paper empirically examines the relationship between enrollment is sex education and subsequent sexual behavior for U.S. teenagers during the 1970's. The estimates indicate that enrollment in sex education was associated with earlier sexual activity for females in this cohart. Sex education also was associated with earlier pregnancy for some group of females, but these effects are smaller and not always statistically significant. For both types of transitions, the effect of sex education appears to have been larger for women with fewer alternative sources of sexual information. In contrast, sex education had much less impact on male transitions into sexual activity. Within‐family analyses using sibling data reveal qualitatively similar patterns. Overall, the evidence suggests that sex education in the 1970's had some causal impact on teen sexual behavior, probably in significant part by providing information that enabled teens to alter the risks of sexual activity.

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