Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP17427
Authors: Olivier Marie; Esme Zwiers
Abstract: We investigate how the benefits from oral contraceptive liberalization may not have been universally distributed across women because of demand- and supply-side religious frictions. First, we show how minors from more religiously conservative areas in the Netherlands were less likely to benefit from gaining legal pill access in 1970. We then document how the large effects we find on delayed fertility/marriage decisions and on human capital accumulation were eliminated by supply-side moral barriers to access. Women in liberal areas with more gatekeepers—general practitioners and pharmacists—who were opposed the Pill on religious grounds did not benefit from its legalization.
Keywords: birth control; religion; fertility; marriage; human capital; the Netherlands
JEL Codes: I18; J12; J13; Z12
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Legal availability of the pill (D45) | Women's fertility decisions (J13) |
| Legal availability of the pill (D45) | Women's marriage decisions (J12) |
| Legal availability of the pill (D45) | Women's educational attainment (I24) |
| Moral objections of healthcare providers (I11) | Effectiveness of liberalization (F68) |
| Vote share for orthodox protestant parties (D72) | Women's fertility decisions (J13) |
| Vote share for orthodox protestant parties (D72) | Women's marriage decisions (J12) |
| Vote share for orthodox protestant parties (D72) | Women's educational attainment (I24) |