UCLA Newsroom highlights CCPR Director Martha Bailey’s M-CARES findings on public health impacts of fully subsidized contraception

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CCPR Director Martha Bailey’s study, Michigan Contraceptive Access, Research, and Evaluation Study (M-CARES), examines changes in the choice of contraception and pregnancy outcomes over time for low-income women by removing all contraceptive costs. Results showed a significant reduction in pregnancies and abortions, with subsidizing contraception resulting in a 16% reduction in pregnancies and a 12% reduction in abortions.  A shift toward more effective contraceptive methods was also observed: removing all financial barriers increased the likelihood of buying contraception by 69%, raised the efficacy of chosen methods by 44% and raised the use of long-acting reversible contraceptives, such as intrauterine devices and implants by 217%.

 

Read the UCLA Newsroom article:
Reducing financial barriers can lower unintended pregnancies | UCLA

Read the extended UCLA Social Sciences article:
Reducing financial barriers to contraception lowers rate of unintended pregnancies and abortions – Social Sciences

Read the working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research:
Does Increasing Financial Access to Contraception in the U.S. Reduce Undesired Pregnancies? Evidence from the M-CARES Randomized Control Trial at Two Years