scholarly journals How Much Can Expanding Access to Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives Reduce Teen Birth Rates?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason M. Lindo ◽  
Analisa Packham

We estimate the degree to which expanding access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) can reduce teen birth rates by analyzing Colorado's Family Planning Initiative, the first large-scale policy intervention to expand access to LARCs in the United States. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the $23M program reduced the teen birth rate in counties with clinics receiving funding by 6.4 percent over 5 years. These effects were concentrated in the second through fifth years of the program and in counties with relatively high poverty rates. State-level synthetic control estimates offer supporting evidence but suffer from a lack of power. (JEL H75, I18, I32, J13)

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Ovadia ◽  
Laura M. Moore

Teen birth rates vary widely across counties in the United States. in this study, we examine whether the religious composition of a county is correlated with the rate of teen childbearing using both a traditional moral communities approach and a “decomposed” version of that framework. Utilizing 2000 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Census Bureau, and the Religious Congregation and Membership Survey, we find that the total percentage of religious adherents in a county is not significantly correlated with the teen birth rate. However, when we decompose the Christian population into major denominational groupings, we find the percentage of evangelical Protestants in a county is positively associated with the teen birth rate while the percentage of Catholics is negatively associated with teen childbearing. Possible explanations for the association between religious context and teen birth rates are discussed, as well as their policy and research implications.


Author(s):  
Martha J. Bailey ◽  
Jason M. Lindo

Changes in childbearing affect almost every aspect of human existence. Over the last fifty years, American women have experienced dramatic changes in the ease and convenience of timing and limiting childbearing, ranging from the introduction of the birth control pill and the legalization of abortion to more recent availability of long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). This chapter chronicles these changes, provides descriptive evidence regarding trends in the use of contraception and abortion, and reviews the literature linking them to changes in childbearing and women’s economic outcomes. It concludes by discussing the recent surge in LARC use, which seems to be one of the most pressing areas in need of further research.


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