The Effect of Access to Long-acting Reversible Contraceptives and Information Campaigns on Teen Pregnancy

Abstract

This paper investigates the importance of information campaigns in policies providing free access to contraceptives. Focusing on a policy change in Costa-Rica that introduced long-active reversible contraceptives (LARCs), we explore the effects of both access and information campaigns on the teen birth rate. Utilizing a differences-in-differences methodology, we show a reduction of over 21% in the teen birth rate during the first three years of the policy. While access is found to reduce the teen birth rate by 18%, the exposure to information campaigns in high schools plays a crucial role in amplifying the impact of access roughly a 4% extra per year of exposure. Adolescents aged 15 to 18 experience the most significant reductions, while 19-year-olds exhibit a lesser impact potentially due to lower exposure.We conclude that information campaigns are essential in conjunction with access to contraceptives to effectively address the adolescent birth rate.