Born at the right time: Examining the effect of age at school entry on mental health in adulthood
This paper examines the largely understudied effect of age at school entry on adult mental health. Using nationwide Finnish register data, we capture a broad spectrum of mental health conditions, ranging from severe disorders to less severe problems. To identify causal effects, we implement a regression discontinuity design around the January 1 school-entry cutoff. We find that being born at the beginning of the year improves mental health outcomes, with the effects concentrated among women in their late twenties.
Authors
- Petri Böckerman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5372-2985)
- Mika Haapanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2964-3352)
- Tiina Kuuppelomäki
- Jani Kuhakoski
- Juuso Villanen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0204-086X)
Institutions
- University of Turku (FI)
- Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LU)
- Labour Institute for Economic Research (FI)
- University of Jyväskylä (FI)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Economics of Education Review
- Published
- 2026-11-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2026.102852
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Early Childhood Education and Development
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Yrjö Jahnssonin Säätiö
- Kela
- Academy of Finland
- Suomen Kulttuurirahasto
- Jyväskylän Yliopisto