Sarah George - Department of Reproductive Health
Contraception is a luxury of the modern world that is advocated and advertised for family planning; however, the deceiving, ugly truth is that birth control is an expensive contraception that most low-income sexual partners don’t have the luxury to buy. Plan B is a whopping fifty dollars at local stores like Target and Walgreens, and this only includes one singular pill that must be taken the morning after sexual intercourse. Addressing these monetary barriers to family planning is essential in tailoring advocacy methods for women and other birthing individuals. In a study conducted in October 2023, researchers examined how the availability of money for contraception amongst mothers of low-income households affected the purchasing of birth control. To perform this study, they give unconditional cash transfers (UCT): 400 randomized low-income mothers received $333 per month while 600 randomized low-income mothers received $20 per month for the first year of the child’s life. They conducted an intent-to-treat analysis to not only examine the purchasing of contraceptives but also the satisfaction with the contraception as well.
Over 65% of low-income first-year mothers reported using a form of contraception. There was already a higher level of satisfaction rate for contraception among low-income mothers than has been previously documented, but this study found there was no change in this rate with the UCT implemented in the mothers’ lives. Unfortunately, 25% of the women claimed they did not use their method of choice for contraception despite the UCT, which indicates that the sum of money given to these women (both groups) was not enough to sustain their needs for living expenses and reproductive control. Women, whether poor or rich, deserve their right to protect themselves from inescapable fates, and it is time that researchers and institutions alike recognize the need for more research on how to combat this growing epidemic.
References:
Contraception Use and Satisfaction Among Mothers with Low-Income: Evidence from the Baby’s First Years Study, Costanzo, Molly A. et al., Contraception, Volume 0, Issue 0, 110297
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