Working Paper: NBER ID: w25656
Authors: Andrea M. Kelly; Jason M. Lindo; Analisa Packham
Abstract: We estimate the effect of Colorado's Family Planning Initiative, the largest program to have focused on long-acting-reversible contraceptives in the United States, which provided funds to Title X clinics so that they could make these contraceptives available to low-income women. We find substantial effects on birth rates, concentrated among women in zip codes within 7 miles of clinics: the initiative reduced births by approximately 20 percent for 15-17 year olds and 18-19 year olds living in such zip codes. We also examine how extensive media coverage of the initiative in 2014 and 2015 altered its reach. After information spread about the availability and benefits of LARCs, we find a substantial increase in LARC insertions, extended effects on births among 15-17 year olds living greater than 7 miles from clinics, and significant reductions in births among 20–24 and 25–29 year olds.
Keywords: long-acting reversible contraceptives; Title X; birth rates; contraceptive access; unintended pregnancies
JEL Codes: I18; J13; J18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | reduced births for 15-17 year olds (J13) |
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | reduced births for 18-19 year olds (J13) |
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | increased access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) (J13) |
| media coverage in 2014 and 2015 (L82) | increased LARC insertions (O19) |
| increased LARC insertions (O19) | reduced births for 15-17 year olds living further than 7 miles from clinics (J13) |
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | reduced births for women aged 20-24 (J13) |
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | reduced births for women aged 25-29 (J19) |
| Colorado Family Planning Initiative (CFPI) (J13) | reduced unintended pregnancies (J13) |