Contraceptive supply and fertility outcomes: evidence from Ghana

Jones, Kelly M. (2013): Contraceptive supply and fertility outcomes: evidence from Ghana.

Abstract

Total fertility rates in Sub-Saharan Africa are nearly double that of any other region in the world. Evidence is mixed on whether providing contraceptives has an impact on fertility. I exploit exogenous, intermittent reductions in contraceptive supply in Ghana, resulting from cuts in U.S. funding, to examine impacts on pregnancy, abortion, and births. Women are unable to fully compensate for the 22% supply reduction using traditional methods for preventing pregnancy, which increases by 10%. Only non-poor women offset these unwanted pregnancies with induced abortion. Using separate data, I find that poor women experience increases in realized fertility of 7-10%.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: fertility, contraception, abortion, foreign aid, Africa
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F3 - International Finance > F35 - Foreign Aid; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I15 - Health and Economic Development; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J13 - Fertility ; Family Planning ; Child Care ; Children ; Youth; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O19 - International Linkages to Development ; Role of International Organizations

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