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Contraception and women’s autonomy in pregnancy decisions: effects of the Bolsa Família Program

Abstract

What are the impacts of the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) on contraception and women’s autonomy in making decisions regarding pregnancy? Motivated by this question, the article contributes to the debate on the effects of the PBF by considering variables that signal both the woman’s desire and her ability to make a decision regarding pregnancy, in addition to the effectiveness of contraceptive methods. Using Propensity Score Matching methods with data from the 2006 National Demographic and the 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 have access to 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.

Keywords:
Contraception; Female autonomy; Empowerment; Bolsa Família Program

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