1. The effects of contraception on female poverty.
- Author
-
Browne SP and LaLumia S
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Contraceptive Agents, Female economics, Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal economics, Data Collection, Family Planning Services legislation & jurisprudence, Female, Health Services Accessibility legislation & jurisprudence, Humans, Marital Status statistics & numerical data, Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Unplanned, Residence Characteristics statistics & numerical data, United States, Young Adult, Contraception Behavior statistics & numerical data, Contraceptive Agents, Female supply & distribution, Contraceptives, Oral, Hormonal supply & distribution, Family Planning Services economics, Health Services Accessibility economics, Poverty statistics & numerical data, Socioeconomic Factors
- Abstract
Poverty rates are particularly high among households headed by single women, and childbirth is often the event preceding these households' poverty spells. This paper examines the relationship between legal access to the birth control pill and female poverty. We rely on exogenous cross-state variation in the year in which oral contraception became legally available to young, single women. Using census data from 1960 to 1990, we find that having legal access to the birth control pill by age 20 significantly reduces the probability that a woman is subsequently in poverty. We estimate that early legal access to oral contraception reduces female poverty by 0.5 percentage points, even when controlling for completed education, employment status, and household composition.
- Published
- 2014
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