Subsidized Contraception and Teen Fertility: The Effects of Medicaid Family Planning Program Eligibility Expansions on the Teen Birth Rate and 12th Grade Dropout Rate

Abstract

Between 1997 and 2010, 12 states expanded Medicaid family planning program access by raising the income eligibility threshold for all women of childbearing age. I exploit the lagged implementation of these income-based expansions to explore the effects on the teen birth rate and 12th grade dropout rate. By subsidizing contraception among low-income teens, the expansions decreased the overall teen birth rate by 6.50%. Furthermore, the magnitude of this negative effect increased with the percent of females ages 15-19 living below 200% of the federal poverty line. Despite these robust results, I find no subsequent impact on the 12th grade dropout rate.