Does Parents’ Access to Family Planning Increase Children’s Opportunities? Evidence from the War on Poverty and the Early Years of Title X

2017/10/01 by Martha Bailey, Olga Malkova, Zoë M McLaren · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics #Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences #Family Dynamics and Relationships

paper · pdf · doi:10.3386/w23971

openalex publication_date 2017/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

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.

Citations

• On the Interaction between the Quantity and Quality of Children
• How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?
• Identification and Estimation of Local Average Treatment Effects
• An Analysis of Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing in the United States
• The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions
• The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Cited by

• Family planning [wikipedia]

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