"The impact of childbirth on criminal trajectories: evidence from Chile"

Abstract

Research on the impact of having a child on criminal trajectories is relatively limited and has

primarily focused on developed countries. This article examines this effect in Chile, a middle- income country. Using administrative data, we estimate the influence of having a first child on

women’s and men’s criminal trajectories. Employing the strategy proposed by Callaway and Sant’Anna (2021), we estimate the dynamic effects of child birth on interactions with the legal system. Our findings reveal that mothers experience a decline in formal charges and convictions during the pregnancy and in the birth period, followed by a gradual recovery without returning to pre-conception levels. Fathers also exhibit an impact surrounding childbirth, but more limited, and in the following periods, the formal charges rate increases by 7%. This rise is attributed to an increase in violent and intra-family violence (IFV) crimes. Mothers also had an increase in violent and IFV crime after having a child. These effects are relevant for the design of public policies that support family formation, such as violence prevention.