1. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
The Pill to End Poverty
Anna C. Fullerton
Southern New Hampshire University
Dr. Julie Quinn
ENG 123 Composition II
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2. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
Abstract
Women’s inability to easily access quality health care, most specifically contraception,
exacerbates the cycle of poverty. This inability causes women to have more children per
household and begin childbearing at much younger ages, effectively putting up barriers to
higher education and therefore, better employment opportunities. By making
contraception accessible to at-risk young women, we would enable them to escape the
vicious cycles they are born into.
Keywords: contraception, poverty, women’s health care
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3. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
The Pill to End Poverty
In 1968, Arthur Campbell wrote an article for the Journal of Marriage and Family
titled ‘The Role of Family Planning in the Reduction of Poverty’. Within that article, he
summed up the real life implications a young woman faces when she suddenly finds
herself pregnant. “The girl who has an illegitimate child at the age of 16 suddenly has 90
percent of her life’s script written for her… Her life choices are few, and most of them
are bad.” (Campbell 1968) In the fight against poverty, many well-intentioned people
treat the surface problems instead of the root causes. It is easier and far more comfortable
to blame and point fingers than to invest in the study of which societal and systemic
issues actually need to be targeted. Research suggests that by improving reproductive
health for women and reducing the number of unintended pregnancies would reduce the
poverty level in every country (Sinding, 2005). Early childbearing exacerbates said
poverty cycle through lower educational rates for mother and child, lower workforce
participation leading to lower household incomes, and increased strain on government
assisted programs. This “perpetuates the 'feminisation of poverty' (this is the current
global trend whereby women increasingly and disproportionately are numbered among
those living in poverty)” (Otoo-Oyortey, 2003).
Affects on Education
The U.S. National Research council studied current risks to young women in American
society and concluded that not only does early childbearing put the mother at risk for
dropping out or not continuing to higher education, but that young mothers experience
other consequences, including but not limited to heightened probability of divorce or
single parenthood, less community involvement, and less potential for higher earnings in
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4. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
the workplace (Greene and Merrick, 2005) Although drop out rates have decreased since
the 60’s and 70’s due to reforms in school policies about pregnant teens, the percentage
of young mothers who continue their education past high school has also decreased
(Greene and Merrick, 2005). In an age where an undergraduate degree is a dime a dozen,
the fact that only 40% of teenage mothers finish high school is alarming. Even more
disconcerting is that an even smaller number than that (less than 30%) go on to pursue
undergraduate degrees (National Conference of State Legislators, 2014). Results born
from studies performed by Levine and Painter in 2003 and then again in 2009 by Fletcher
and Wolfe, showed that not only do teen mothers have lower educational progress, but
they also work fewer hours and for lower wages than women who postpone childbearing.
These studies also showed that young mothers tend to choose partners who also have low
educational attainment and lower levels of economic success in the workplace (Paniagua
and Walker, 2012).
Secondary Effects (This whole paragraph/transition feels awkward. Help!)
The relationship between poverty and family size is difficult to assess. Researchers
consistently debate which causes which; Is a family in poverty because of how many
dependents they have, or are poorer families more likely to have more children since they
have less access to family planning methods? Either way, what is known is that increased
family size makes young couples more vulnerable to the effects of poverty, and may
actually be such a financial burden that they are unable to ever break the cycle.
Decreasing family size enables parents to invest more in each child’s nutrition, education,
and over all well-being (Sinding, 2005). Not surprisingly, increased family size is also
correlated with dependence on welfare. Twenty-five percent of families started due to
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5. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
teen pregnancy will be on welfare within the first three years (National Conference of
State Legislators, 2014). A study performed by the United Nations Population Fund
found that for every dollar invested in family planning, the United States government
saves $31. That would be a return ratio of over thirty-to-one. Not only that, but if the US
invested $4 billion into contraceptive methods, they would actually save money on health
care costs by preventing over 50 million unintended pregnancies and 22 million abortions
each year (UNFPA, 2006). Another economic benefit to family planning that is often
overlooked is the revenue a woman would be able to create given she have the ability to
postpone childbearing and join the workforce (UNFPA, 2006).
Conclusion
We have the capability to fight one of the root causes of poverty by providing the over
120 million women who want to postpone childbearing with access to contraception and
improved reproductive education. Early childbearing creates barriers for women that
exacerbate the poverty cycle and make it nearly impossible to escape. After motherhood,
a woman’s likelihood of continuing her education dramatically decreases. Since she then
possesses a lower educational level than many of her peers, she is unable to compete in
the job market, and is forced into low paying jobs that offer few opportunities for growth.
With low income comes an almost inevitable dependency on welfare, Medicaid, food
stamps, and other government funded assistance programs. In order to break this vicious
cycle, we must invest in the health and education of younger generations.
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6. Running Head: THE PILL TO END POVERTY
References
Greene, Margaret, and Thomas Merrick. "Poverty Reduction: Does Reproductive Health
Matter?." World Bank 1 (2005): 1-68. Print.
Hughes, Barry B., and Mohammod T. Irfan. "Assessing Strategies for Reducing
Poverty." International Studies Review 9.4 (2007): 690-710. Web.
National Conference of State Legislators. (2014). Teen pregnancy affects graduation
rate. (Research). Washington D.C.: (Teen Pregnancy)
Otoo -Oyortey, Naana. "Early Marriage Poverty: Exploring Links and Key Policy
Issues." Gender and Development 11.2 (2003): 42-51.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4030639?origin=JSTOR-pdf. Web. September 7, 2014.
Paniagua, M. N. (2012). In Walker I. (Ed.), The impact of teenage motherhood on
the Education and fertility of their children: Evidence for europe (Discussion Paper
No. 6995 ed.). Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor.
Sinding, S. W. (2005). Keeping sexual and reproductive health at the forefront of global
efforts to reduce poverty. Studies in Family Planning, 36(2), 140-143. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4148977
--- "Population, Poverty and Economic Development." Philosophical Transactions:
Biological Sciences 364.1532, The Impact of Population Growth on Tomorrow's
World (2009): 3023-30. Web.
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United Nations Population Fund. Family Planning and Poverty Reduction., 2006/2007.
Benefits for Families and Nations United Nations Population Fund. Web. September
14, 2014.
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