AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Does Getting Health Insurance Affect Women's Fertility? Evidence from the United Mine Workers' Health Insurance
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 109,
May 2019
(pp. 511–15)
Abstract
Does health insurance affect fertility decisions? Fertility may increase if insurance lowers the costs of having a child. Fertility may decrease if children are more likely to survive into adulthood (quality-quantity tradeoff). We study a largely permanent United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) insurance program. A large group of women of childbearing age gained pregnancy coverage for the first time. The insurance also covered children. We use a trend break specification with county-level variation in insurance. We find new evidence of the quality-quantity tradeoff. Fertility rates declined by about one percent per year in counties with average levels of insurance.Citation
Troland, Erin, and Theodore F. Figinski. 2019. "Does Getting Health Insurance Affect Women's Fertility? Evidence from the United Mine Workers' Health Insurance." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 109: 511–15. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191094Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G22 Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
- I12 Health Behavior
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J51 Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects