Financial Incentives, Contraceptive Use and Abortion Behavior

Mathilde Almlund, Mette Ejrnaes and Thomas H. Joergensen
Additional contact information
Mathilde Almlund: VIVE, The Danish Center for Social Science Research
Mette Ejrnaes: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
Thomas H. Joergensen: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen

No 25-02, CEBI working paper series from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI)

Abstract: We examine whether financial incentives affect fertility and family planning. We use a reform reducing child benefits paid to larger families together with Danish longitudinal register data on the universe of legal abortions and birth control pill purchases to address this question. We find that partnered women in low-income households reduced their fertility in response to the reform, partly by increasing the use of abortions. Younger women also increased the use of oral contraceptives. Responses are largest for younger and cohabiting women compared to their married counterparts. Our results show that family policies can affect family planning through financial incentives.

Keywords: Childbirth; Abortion; Birth control; The Pill; Child Benefits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J13 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 23
Date: 2025-01-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
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