SEVILLA , Almudena

We take advantage of a new natural experiment to evaluate the health effects of scheduling birth early for non-medical reasons on infant health. In 2010, the cancellation of a generous child benefit in Spain led may families to schedule birth early in order to remain eligible for the subsidy. We document that the affected cohort of children did...

Context The benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and the child are well documented, as are the negative health consequences of perinatal depression. Objective To explore causality in the relationships between breastfeeding and perinatal depression. In particular the causal effect of breastfeeding on postpartum maternal mental health...

This paper uses propensity score matching methods to investigate the relationship between breastfeeding and children's cognitive and noncognitive development. We find that breastfeeding for four weeks is positively and statistically significantly associated with higher cognitive test scores, by around one tenth of a standard deviation. The...