Contraception and Women's Autonomy Pregnancy Decision: Effects of the Bolsa Família Program

Authors

Abstract

What are the impacts of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) on contraception and women's autonomy in making decisions regarding pregnancy? Motivated by that question, this article contributes to the debate on the effects of PBF by considering variables that signal both the woman's desire and her ability to decide on pregnancy, in addition to the effectiveness of contraceptive methods. Using Propensity Score Matching methods with data from the 2006 National Demographic and Health Survey of Women and Children, no evidence was found that the PBF contributed to reducing the use of contraceptives, nor to stimulating pregnancy. However, the results indicate that the program reduced the likelihood that beneficiaries would not be attended by contraceptive methods when needed. Thus, due to greater access to information, increased income or increased bargaining power, these results suggest that the PBF has positive impacts on women's agency power.

Author Biographies

  • Maria Carolina Couto, IERI-UFU

    Graduação em Ciências Econômicas e mestrado em Economia pela Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. Integrante da equipe do projeto de extensão indicadores de violência contra a mulher (2015) e pesquisadora bolsista do Programa de Educação Tutorial (2016-2017).

  • Carlos Cesar Santejo Saiani, Instituto de Economia e Relações Internacionais, Universidade Federal de Uberlândia

    Professor Adjunto do Instituto de Economia da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia (IE/UFU). Doutor em Economia pela Escola de Economia de São Paulo da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (EESP/FGV). Possui graduação e mestrado em Economia pela Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto da Universidade de São Paulo (FEARP/USP). Autor de capítulos de livros e artigos sobre Economia do Setor Público, Economia do Meio Ambiente e Avaliação de Políticas, com ênfase em serviços de saneamento básico. 

  • Mônica Yukie Kuwahara, Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC)

    Economista pela Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), mestre em Integração da América Latina (Prolam-USP) e doutora em Ciências da Comunicação (ECA-USP). Docente do Bacharelado de Ciências Econômicas (BCE) e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Economia (PPGE) da Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC)

Published

2022-04-05

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2022): Economia e Sociedade

Section

Articles

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