The Effect of Maternal Education on Offspring's Mental Health

The paper presented in this ZEW Research Seminar estimates the effect of maternal schooling on children's mental health in adulthood. Using the Socio-Economic Panel and the mental health measure based on the SF-12 questionnaire, the authors exploit a compulsory schooling law reform to identify the causal effect of maternal schooling on children's mental health. They do not find that maternal schooling affects children's mental health. However, they find a positive effect on children's physical health operating mainly through physical functioning. Albeit the absence of a reduced form effect on mental health, the authors however find evidence that the number of friends moderates the relationship between maternal schooling and their children's mental health.