Coverage of infertility treatment and fertility outcomes

Matilde P. Machado ^[1] ; Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano ^[2]
1. [1] Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
  
  Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
  
  Madrid, España
2. [2] Universitat d'Alacant
  
  Universitat d'Alacant
  
  Alicante, España
Localización: SERIEs : Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, ISSN 1869-4195, Vol. 6, Nº. 4, 2015, págs. 407-439
Idioma: inglés
Enlaces
- Texto completo

Resumen
- Policy interventions that increase insurance coverage for infertility treatments may affect fertility trends, and ultimately, population age structures. However, such policies have ignored the overall impact of coverage on fertility. We examine short-term and long-term effects of increased insurance coverage for infertility on the timing of first births and on women’s total fertility rates. Our main contribution is to show that infertility mandates enacted in the United States during the 80s and 90s did not increase the total fertility rates of women by the end of their reproductive lives. We also show evidence that these mandates induced women to put off motherhood.