The Review of Economics and Statistics Vol. 91 No. 1 2009
Subsidized Contraception, Fertility, and Sexual Behavior
Abstract
We examine the impact of recent state-level Medicaid policy changes that expanded eligibility for family planning services to higher-income women and to Medicaid clients whose benefits would expire otherwise. We show that the income-based policy change reduced overall births to non-teens by about 2% and to teens by over 4%; estimates suggest a decline of 9% among newly eligible women. The reduction in fertility appears to have been accomplished via greater use of contraception. Our calculations indicate that allowing higher-income women to receive federally funded family planning cost on the order of $6,800 for each averted birth.
- DOI
- 10.1162/rest.91.1.137
- Volume
- 91
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 137-151
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref