Samenvatting

International studies show that children of teenage mothers are at elevated risk for offending. This study investigates the effect of early and late parenthood of mothers and fathers on offspring delinquency. The results confirm results from earlier studies and show that early fatherhood does not add to offending risk over and above early motherhood. Factors like family instability, family size and parental delinquency do not account for the association between early motherhood and delinquency. The elevated risk of offending applies to all children of young mothers, not just to the first-born children. Late parenthood is not associated with offspring delinquency.