Non-marital and teen fertility and contraception during the great recession

Abstract

I examine the effects of the Great Recession on non-marital and teen births. The Recession could have led to reductions in non-marital and teen fertility or the Recession could have had null effects if non-marital and teen fertility are disconnected from economic factors. Using a panel of state-level fertility and economic data, I find that worse macro-economic conditions are associated with lower rates of non-marital and teen fertility. I next analyzed data from the National Survey of Family Growth and find that worsening macroeconomic conditions at the national level raise the probability of contraceptive use, of consistent contraceptive use, and of the efficacy of the contraceptive method employed among unmarried women. The results suggest that disadvantaged women moderate fertility in response to severe economic shocks.