Norplant is a hormonal long-acting contraceptive implant. Depo-Provera is a hormonal contraceptive administered through three monthly injections.Google Scholar

For example, by setting gasoline tax rates appropriately, governments could make drivers pay the full social cost of their choice to drive, including the environmental costs of the gasoline burned in their cars and the shared costs of road use. Doing so would, on average, reduce the amount of gas people use. Where gasoline is not taxed, the market price that drivers pay reflects only the costs of gasoline extraction and distribution, leaving the pollution costs of driving to be borne by the people affected (potentially, the entire world) and the costs of road use to be paid by all taxpayers. Similarly, if large numbers of people used electric cars, pollution would fall. Subsidies targeted to support a design for an affordable electric car could increase their use. The subsidy would be socially beneficial if public benefits in the form of less pollution were valued at least as much as the cost of the subsidies.Google Scholar

If American policymakers were to accept the claim that American childbearing should be decreased because the high level of U.S. consumption is harming the rest of the world, then it would be logical to target wealthy families with antinatalist incentives because they consume the most. This is, of course, the reverse of current policy, which targets low-income mothers.Google Scholar

See, e.g., Baumol, W.J. Blinder, A.S., Economics: Principles and Policy, Seventh Edition (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997): At 478–79.Google Scholar

A classic example of a policy-induced distortion that reduces total social welfare is a local sales tax that induces people to travel to neighboring jurisdictions to shop: The tax leads to wasted time and travel that benefits nobody.Google Scholar

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Depending on the method chosen, the $200 incentive is paid either when the Norplant device or IUD is inserted or in four $50 increments following each Depo shot over a period of one year.Google Scholar

Project Prevention at <http://www.cashforbirthcontrol.com> (last visited September 10, 2003). The data reported in this paragraph were found at <http://www.cashforbirthcontrol.com/reasons/statistics.html> on December 12, 2002.+(last+visited+September+10,+2003).+The+data+reported+in+this+paragraph+were+found+at++on+December+12,+2002.>Google Scholar

The effect of the family cap rule has been evaluated in New Jersey and in Arkansas. The Arkansas policy had no effect. See Turturro, C. Benda, B. Turney, H., Arkansas Welfare Waiver Demonstration Project, Final Report (July 1994 though June 1997), study conducted by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Social Work, June 15, 1997, cited in Falk, G. Devere, C., Analysis Of Evaluations Of The New Jersey Family Development Program, memo from the authors to Ron Haskins of the House Ways and Means Committee, July 9, 1998, available at <http://www.welfareacademy.org/eval/crs.htm>. The New Jersey policy appeared to decrease births (and also increase both contraceptive use and abortions), but methodological flaws lead reviewers to be divided on the validity of this conclusion. See Levin-Epstein, J., Open Questions: New Jersey's Family Cap Evaluation, report published by the Center for Law and Social Policy, February 1999, available at <http://www.clasp.org/DMS/Documents/1011211646.72/view_html>; Falk, Devere, , supra. If the policy has reduced unplanned births it will have certainly raised overall social utility; if its main effect has been to cut incomes to children conceived on welfare who do not have the resources they need, it might have lowered overall social utility.; Falk, Devere, , supra. If the policy has reduced unplanned births it will have certainly raised overall social utility; if its main effect has been to cut incomes to children conceived on welfare who do not have the resources they need, it might have lowered overall social utility.' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=24The+effect+of+the+family+cap+rule+has+been+evaluated+in+New+Jersey+and+in+Arkansas.+The+Arkansas+policy+had+no+effect.+See+Turturro,+C.+Benda,+B.+Turney,+H.,+Arkansas+Welfare+Waiver+Demonstration+Project,+Final+Report+(July+1994+though+June+1997),+study+conducted+by+the+University+of+Arkansas+at+Little+Rock+School+of+Social+Work,+June+15,+1997,+cited+in+Falk,+G.+Devere,+C.,+Analysis+Of+Evaluations+Of+The+New+Jersey+Family+Development+Program,+memo+from+the+authors+to+Ron+Haskins+of+the+House+Ways+and+Means+Committee,+July+9,+1998,+available+at+.+The+New+Jersey+policy+appeared+to+decrease+births+(and+also+increase+both+contraceptive+use+and+abortions),+but+methodological+flaws+lead+reviewers+to+be+divided+on+the+validity+of+this+conclusion.+See+Levin-Epstein,+J.,+Open+Questions:+New+Jersey's+Family+Cap+Evaluation,+report+published+by+the+Center+for+Law+and+Social+Policy,+February+1999,+available+at+;+Falk,+Devere,+,+supra.+If+the+policy+has+reduced+unplanned+births+it+will+have+certainly+raised+overall+social+utility;+if+its+main+effect+has+been+to+cut+incomes+to+children+conceived+on+welfare+who+do+not+have+the+resources+they+need,+it+might+have+lowered+overall+social+utility.>Google Scholar

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See Moskowitz, E. Jennings, B., “Directive Counseling on Long-Acting Contraception” American Journal of Public Health; 86, no. 6 (1996): 787–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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In China, the average income of a family with two working-age adults was 3,800 Yuan in the period of study. Personal communication from Guanghuo Li to author (June 19, 2002). In the United States, expenditures by middle-income parents on a child from birth to age eighteen have been estimated at about four times the median household income (calculated from cost-of-children data in Lino, M., “USDA's Expenditures on Children by Families Project: Uses and Changes Over Time,” Family Economics and Nutrition Review, 13, no. 1 (2001): 81–86, at 84). Applying the same multiplier in China suggests that an additional child might cost about 15,200 Yuan. But given the higher level of public subsidies for many services in China, and China's greater poverty, I will assume that Chinese parents spend a much smaller fraction of their incomes on raising children than American parents do: Say, 10,000 Yuan per child. A birth tax of 2,900 Yuan increases the cost of raising a child to 12,900. Then a 1 percent increase in the fine is a 0.3 percent increase in the cost of children, which in turn generates the estimated decline in fertility of 0.15 to 0.27 percent. An increase in the cost of children from 10,000 Yuan to 12,900 Yuan should reduce childbearing by 12 to 21 percent. Even if the cost of childbearing were larger – for example, 15,000 Yuan – the effect on childbearing would still be a reduction of 12 to 21 percent. Strictly speaking, one should not extrapolate these elasticities across such a large estimated change in the cost of childbearing. When the fine itself is low, the relationship between childbearing and fines might be different from the relationships estimated when the fine is large. But for illustrative purposes, the point is useful.Google Scholar

See Stevens-Simon, C. Dolgan, J.I. Kelly, L. Singer, D., “The Effect of Monetary Incentives and Peer Support Groups on Repeat Adolescent Pregnancies: A Randomized Trial of the Dollar a Day program,” JAMA, 277 (1997): 977–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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Excluding miscarriages, 49 percent of the pregnancies concluding in 1994 were unintended; 54 percent of these unintended pregnancies ended in abortion. Among poor women, fewer (49 percent) unintended pregnancies were aborted. See Henshaw, S.K., “Unintended Pregnancy in the United States” Family Planning Perspectives, 30, no. 1 (1998): 24–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

This conclusion relies heavily on the argument that benefits realized far in the future (when unborn children are grown) are large enough to outweigh costs incurred in the near term; using reasonable assumptions about discount rates, this argument appears to be correct.Google Scholar

According to the Planned Parenthood website, female sterilization costs range from $1,000 to $2,500, All About Tubal Sterilization, at <www.plannedparenthood.org/bc/allabouttubal.htm> (last visited May 17, 2003); a Norplant insertion costs between $500 and $750, Norplant and You, at <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/bc/Norplant.htm> (last visited May 17, 2003); and Depo-Provera (which was chosen almost as often as sterilization) costs $180 per year, Is Depo-Provera for You?, at <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/bc/depoforyou.htm> (last visited May 17, 2003).+(last+visited+May+17,+2003);+a+Norplant+insertion+costs+between+$500+and+$750,+Norplant+and+You,+at++(last+visited+May+17,+2003);+and+Depo-Provera+(which+was+chosen+almost+as+often+as+sterilization)+costs+$180+per+year,+Is+Depo-Provera+for+You?,+at++(last+visited+May+17,+2003).>Google Scholar

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The IUD carries risks of vaginal and uterine infection. Norplant and Depo share a similar range of possible side-effects, including changes in menstrual cycle, headaches, weight gain, depression, nervousness, dizziness, sore breasts, nausea, changes in sex drive, and gain or loss of facial or body hair. Depo-Provera may continue to depress fertility for many months following the last injection. Norplant users occasionally experience infections at the site of the implant. The presence of the device in the arm, and its removal, can sometimes result in scarring. The cost of removal can also pose a problem: Women who have left welfare often are not eligible for Medicaid and might have to pay for removal themselves. For further details, see the Planned Parenthood website at <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/bc/> (last visited September 9, 2003).+(last+visited+September+9,+2003).>Google Scholar

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This is especially true now that the majority of welfare recipients live in states that deny benefits to children conceived on welfare, so that the costs of an additional child must be paid out of an unchanged welfare grant. Only in rare cases might women be made better off financially by bearing another child.Google Scholar