23 January, 2008

Incarceration rates of men/teen births

Here is a fascinating paper on the link between the incarceration of young men and lower rates of teenage pregnancy.

I found it on the freakonomics blog where it was referenced in the context of the the question 'what do the lower abortion rates in America mean for the crime rate in the future?'. I'm most inclined to agree with the blog insofar as it argues easy access to contraceptives helps lower the abortion rate. The stigma associated with methods such as the pill and the wider uptake of condom use etc means to my mind, it seems obvious why there would be less conceptions (and therefore abortions). The figure is no doubt slightly different in America, but in Britain 25% of 16-17 year olds use the pill.

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