Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between parents’ access to family planning and the economic resources of their children. Using the county-level introduction of U.S. family planning programs between 1964 and 1973, we find that children born after programs began had 2.8% higher household incomes. They were also 7% less likely to live in poverty and 12% less likely to live in households receiving public assistance. A bounding exercise suggests that the direct effects of family planning programs on parents’ resources account for roughly two-thirds of these gains.
- Received December 2016.
- Accepted May 2018.
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In this issue
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- Article
- Abstract
- I. Introduction
- II. A History of U.S. Family Planning Programs and Their Expected Effects on Children’s Outcomes
- III. The Expected Effects of Family Planning Programs on the Economic Resources of Children
- IV. Research Design and Data
- V. The Estimated Effects of Family Planning Programs on the Economic Resources of Children
- VI. A Framework for Bounding the Importance of Selection
- VII. Funding Family Planning as an Antipoverty Program
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