Birth control and poverty in South America

Abstract

The idea that inducing birth control is an important strategy for poverty reduction is still popular in groups with reasonable political power. For instance, concerns about increases in fertility became part of the debate about the results of cash transfer programs that deliver benefits proportionally to the number of children in the household, like Bolsa Escola in Brazil and Progresa in Mexico. Moreover, a study of the entrepreneurial elites in Brazil has shown that about one fourth of the people interviewed believe that birth control should be the main initiative to fight poverty in the country (Reis & Cheibub, 1995). The rationale behind this is very intuitive: many children in a family means more mouths to be fed by few hands, as children are usually economically dependent on their parents. Thus, the fewer children in poor families, the better for poverty reduction in the country. (...)A idéia de que a indução do controle de natalidade é uma importante estratégia para redução da