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Religious Barriers to Birth Control Access

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  • Marie, Olivier
  • Zwiers, Esmée

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.

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  • Marie, Olivier & Zwiers, Esmée, 2022. "Religious Barriers to Birth Control Access," CEPR Discussion Papers 17427, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:17427
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    1. Zwiers, Esmée, 2024. "Estimating the Lifecycle Fertility Consequences of WWII Using Bunching," IZA Discussion Papers 16927, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Cavallini, Flavia, 2024. "Not the right time for children: Unemployment, fertility, and abortion," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Birth control; Religion; Fertility; Marriage; Human capital; The netherlands;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion

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