“The effect of free emergency contraception availability on adolescent pregnancy and female labour force participation in Chile

Abstract

This document analyzes the effect of the expansion in availability of the emergency con- traceptive pill (ECP) between 2011 and 2017 in a middle income country setting. Exploiting

variation in ECP availability across municipalities in Chile caused by a series of legislative deci- sions I estimate the impact of free access to ECP on two different outcomes: (1) the likelihood

that an adolescent woman is pregnant and (2) female labour force participation. I find a nega- tive effect on teenage pregnancy only for relative poor women. This result suggests that these

individuals are affected by the reform as their access to other contraceptive methods is limited.

When analyzing female labour participation, I find that previous ECP availability did not af- fected adult women’s likelihood of participating in the labour force. It is argued that the effect

of this contraception technology might be observed in the long-term.