Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/314599 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17702
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Using a sample of disadvantaged Australians, we compare trajectories of those who left school before 18 with those who left later, in terms of homelessness, incarceration, substance use and mental health issues. We estimate a staggered difference-in-difference to account for heterogenous treatment effects across cohorts and time. Results indicate that leaving school before 18 increases males' likelihood of experiencing homelessness, being incarcerated, using cannabis daily and illegal street drugs weekly several years after school-leaving. In contrast, for females the difference-in-difference strategy eliminates the correlations between school-leaving age and their outcomes. We also show that while parental separation and other adverse behaviours coincide with early school-leaving, our results are robust to accounting for these, providing support for a causal interpretation of our findings.
Subjects: 
education
homelessness
substance use
incarceration
mental health
Australia
JEL: 
C23
I12
I24
I32
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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