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Title: The Pill, Abortion and Partnerships: The impact of greater fertility control on cohabitation

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2007

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Abstract: With the introduction and dispersion of the birth control pill and the national legalization of abortion, the US witnessed a major fertility revolution in the 1960s andearly 1970s. Greater fertility control decreased the relative benefit of more committed relationships to less committed relationships. Since cohabitation falls in the intermediate range of commitment, the existing theory, including a new model presented in this paper, makes an ambiguous prediction of the impact of greater fertility control on cohabitation. The causal effect is empirically estimated using plausibly exogenous variation in state laws granting access the pill and abortion. The results suggest that legal access to the pill and abortion between ages 18 and 21 significantly increased aggregate cohabitation rates for women in the aged 18-24. An individual level analysis offirst-spouse cohabitation is also conducted. If a woman married between the ages of 18 and 20, the results suggest that access to the pill decreased the likelihood of first-spouse cohabitation. If a woman married between the ages of 21 and 27, early access to the pill had the opposite effect.

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Authors: Christensen, Finn

Publisher: Towson University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Other

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