Full Citation

Title: The Effect of Contraception on Female Poverty

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2014

ISBN:

ISSN: 0276-8739

DOI:

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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.

Url: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.21761/abstract

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Browne, Stephanie P.; LaLumia, Sara

Periodical (Full): Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

Issue: 3

Volume: 33

Pages: 602-622

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Other, Poverty and Welfare

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