Is teenage parenthood associated with early use of disability pension? Evidence from a longitudinal study

by Fredinah Namatovu, Erling Häggström Gunfridsson, Lotta Vikström

Over the past decades the number of young people using disability pensions (DP) has gradually increased in Europe but the reasons for this change are poorly understood. We hypothesize that teenage parenthood could be associated with an increased risk of receiving early DP. The aim of this study was to examine the association between having a first child at age 13–19 and receiving DP at age 20–42 (here called early DP).

A longitudinal cohort study was undertaken based on national register data obtained from 410,172 individuals born in Sweden in 1968, 1969, and 1970. Teenage mothers and fathers were followed until age 42 and compared to non-teenage parent counterparts to examine their early receipt of DP. Descriptive analysis, Kaplan-Meier curves, and Cox regression analyses were performed.

The proportion of teenage parents was more than twice higher in the group that received early DP (16%) compared to the group that did not receive early DP (6%) during the study duration. A higher proportion of teenage mothers and fathers started to receive DP at 20–42 years old compared to non-teenage parents, and the difference between the two groups increased during the observation period. A strong association was observed between being a teenage parent and receiving early DP, significant both independently and after adjusting for the year of birth and the father’s level of education. From the age of 30 to 42 years, teenage mothers used early DP more often than teenage fathers or non-teenage parents, and this difference also increased during the follow-up period.

A strong association was found between teenage parenthood and the use of DP between 20 and 42 years of age. Teenage mothers used DP more than teenage fathers and non-teenage parents.