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The Impact of Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Clinics on Early 20th Century U.S. Fertility and Mortality

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  • Stefan Bauernschuster
  • Michael Grimm
  • Cathy M. Hajo

Abstract

Margaret Sanger established the first birth control clinic in New York in 1916. From the mid-1920s, “Sanger clinics” spread over the entire U.S. Combining newly digitized data on the roll-out of these clinics, full-count Census data, and administrative vital statistics, we find that birth control clinics accounted for 5.0–7.8% of the overall fertility decline until 1940. Moreover, birth control clinics had a significant and meaningful negative effect on the incidence of stillbirths and infant mortality. The effect of birth control clinics on puerperal deaths is consistently negative, yet insignificant. Further suggestive evidence points towards positive effects on female employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Bauernschuster & Michael Grimm & Cathy M. Hajo, 2023. "The Impact of Margaret Sanger’s Birth Control Clinics on Early 20th Century U.S. Fertility and Mortality," CESifo Working Paper Series 10421, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10421
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Vidart, 2024. "Revisiting the Link Between Electrification and Fertility: Evidence from the Early 20th Century United States," Working papers 2024-03, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    birth control; fertility; mortality; Margaret Sanger; demographic transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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