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Life-Cycle Effects of Comprehensive Sex Education

Lazuka, Volha LU and Elwert, Annika LU (2023) In IZA Discussion Paper
Abstract
Sex education can impact pupils’ sexual activity and convey the social norms regarding family formation and responsibility, which can have significant consequences to their future. To investigate the life-cycle effects of social norm transmission, this study draws on the introduction of comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of Swedish primary schools during the 1940s to the 1950s. Inspired by social-democratic values, sex education during this period taught students about abstinence, rational family planning choices, and the importance of taking social responsibility for their personal decisions. The study applies a state-of-the-art estimator of the difference-in-differences method to various outcomes of men and women throughout... (More)
Sex education can impact pupils’ sexual activity and convey the social norms regarding family formation and responsibility, which can have significant consequences to their future. To investigate the life-cycle effects of social norm transmission, this study draws on the introduction of comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of Swedish primary schools during the 1940s to the 1950s. Inspired by social-democratic values, sex education during this period taught students about abstinence, rational family planning choices, and the importance of taking social responsibility for their personal decisions. The study applies a state-of-the-art estimator of the difference-in-differences method to various outcomes of men and women throughout the life cycle. The results show that the reform affected most intended outcomes for men and women, ultimately decreasing gender inequality in earnings. The effects of the reform also extended to the succeeding generation of girls, encouraging them to choose a profession with prosocial responsibilities and engage in entrepreneurship. The findings suggest that social norms, internalized through schoolbased sex education, shape lifetime outcomes of individuals and their children in significant ways. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
in
IZA Discussion Paper
issue
16622
pages
71 pages
publisher
Social Science Research Network (SSRN)
DOI
10.2139/ssrn.4642017
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
29a45fa6-2d88-4e0f-87ec-720378b4f11a
date added to LUP
2024-03-22 10:52:03
date last changed
2024-03-22 11:07:40
@misc{29a45fa6-2d88-4e0f-87ec-720378b4f11a,
  abstract     = {{Sex education can impact pupils’ sexual activity and convey the social norms regarding family formation and responsibility, which can have significant consequences to their future. To investigate the life-cycle effects of social norm transmission, this study draws on the introduction of comprehensive sex education in the curriculum of Swedish primary schools during the 1940s to the 1950s. Inspired by social-democratic values, sex education during this period taught students about abstinence, rational family planning choices, and the importance of taking social responsibility for their personal decisions. The study applies a state-of-the-art estimator of the difference-in-differences method to various outcomes of men and women throughout the life cycle. The results show that the reform affected most intended outcomes for men and women, ultimately decreasing gender inequality in earnings. The effects of the reform also extended to the succeeding generation of girls, encouraging them to choose a profession with prosocial responsibilities and engage in entrepreneurship. The findings suggest that social norms, internalized through schoolbased sex education, shape lifetime outcomes of individuals and their children in significant ways.}},
  author       = {{Lazuka, Volha and Elwert, Annika}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{16622}},
  publisher    = {{Social Science Research Network (SSRN)}},
  series       = {{IZA Discussion Paper}},
  title        = {{Life-Cycle Effects of Comprehensive Sex Education}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4642017}},
  doi          = {{10.2139/ssrn.4642017}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}