The Missing Baby Bust: The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Contraceptive Use, Pregnancy, and Childbirth Among Low-Income Women

Martha Bailey, Lea Bart and Vanessa Wanner Lang
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Lea Bart: University of Michigan
Vanessa Wanner Lang: Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Population Research and Policy Review, 2022, vol. 41, issue 4, No 8, 1549-1569

Abstract: Abstract Multiple episodes in US history demonstrate that birth rates fall in response to recessions. However, the 2020 COVID-19 recession differed from earlier periods in that employment and access to contraception and abortion fell, as reproductive health centers across the country temporarily closed or reduced their capacity. This paper exploits novel survey and administrative data to examine how reductions in access to reproductive health care during 2020 affected contraceptive efficacy among low-income women. Accounting for 2020’s reductions in access to contraception and the economic slowdown, our results predict a modest decline in births of 1.1 percent in 2021 for low-income women. Further accounting for reductions in access to abortion implies that birth rates may even rise for low-income women. These results also suggest that already economically disadvantaged families disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 economy will experience a large increase in unplanned births.

Keywords: Contraception; Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs); Fertility rates; Pregnancy; COVID-19; Pandemic; Recession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11113-022-09703-9

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