The Supply of Birth Control Methods, Education, and Fertility

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of the supply of birth control methods on fertility behavior by examining Romania’s 23-year period of pronatalist policies. Following the lifting of the restrictions in 1989 the immediate decrease in fertility was 30 percent. Women who spent most of their reproductive years under the restrictive regime experienced increases in life-cycle fertility of about 0.5 children. Less-educated women had bigger increases in fertility after policy implementation and larger fertility decreases following the lifting of restrictions. These findings suggest that access to abortion and birth control are significant determinants of fertility levels, particularly for less-educated women.