Year: 2008
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Health insurance has become essential in mediating the extremely high costs of childbirth; however, it has been neglected in fertility research. This study examines health insurance coverage as an economic determinant of fertility and includes discussions of the cost of raising children, contraception and childbirth as well as opportunity costs to illustrate that the effect of health insurance may differ by resources, such as income and education. Using data from the 2001 Survey of Income and Program Participation, I analyze the effects of insurance on the probability of pregnancy and birth with Discrete-Time Hazard Models. Results show that health insurance is a powerful indicator of fertility. Married women with insurance coverage, especially private insurance coverage provided by someone else's plan, coverage in own name or public insurance, have increased expected odds of fertility compared to uninsured women.
Author: Jennifer Adams Mendoza
Institution: Brigham Young University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W822539937