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An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families.

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Title: An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families.
Authors: Sawhill, Isabel1, Thomas, Adam2, Monea, Emily3
Source: Future of Children. Fall2010, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p133-155. 23p. 3 Charts, 1 Graph.
Subject Terms: *Attitude (Psychology), *Behavior modification, *Birth control, *Contraception, *Cost effectiveness, *Health services accessibility, *Motivation (Psychology), *Sex education, *Single parents, *Teenage parents, *Government policy, *Family relations, *At-risk people, Birth rate, Pregnancy, Public welfare, Self-efficacy, Social marketing, Socioeconomic factors, Unplanned pregnancy, Health literacy, Prevention, Psychosocial factors
Abstract: Isabel Sawhill, Adam Thomas, and Emily Monea believe that given the well-documented costs of nonmarital births to the children and parents in fragile families, as well as to society as a whole, policy makers' primary goal should be to reduce births to unmarried parents. The authors say that the nation's swiftly rising nonmarital birth rate has many explanations—a cultural shift toward acceptance of unwed childbearing; a lack of positive alternatives to motherhood among the less advantaged; a sense of fatalism or ambivalence about pregnancy; a lack of marriageable men; limited access to effective contraception; a lack of knowledge about contraception; and the difficulty of using contraception consistently and correctly. Noting that these explanations fall generally into three categories—motivation, knowledge, and access—the authors discuss policies designed to motivate individuals to avoid unintended pregnancies, to improve their knowledge about contraception, and to remove barriers to contraceptive access. Some motivational programs, such as media campaigns, have been effective in changing behavior. Some, but not all, sex education programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy have also been effective at reducing sexual activity or increasing contraceptive use, or both. Programs providing access to subsidized contraception have also been effective and would be even more so if they could increase the use not just of contraceptives, but of long-acting, reversible contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. Finally, the authors present simulations of the costs and effects of three policy initiatives—a mass media campaign that encourages men to use condoms, a teen pregnancy prevention program that discourages sexual activity and educates participants about proper contraceptive use, and an expansion in access to Medicaid-subsidized contraception. All three have benefit-cost ratios that are comfortably greater than one, making them excellent social investments that can actually save taxpayer dollars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Future of Children is the property of Future of Children and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Future+of+Children%22">Future of Children</searchLink>. Fall2010, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p133-155. 23p. 3 Charts, 1 Graph.
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– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Isabel Sawhill, Adam Thomas, and Emily Monea believe that given the well-documented costs of nonmarital births to the children and parents in fragile families, as well as to society as a whole, policy makers' primary goal should be to reduce births to unmarried parents. The authors say that the nation's swiftly rising nonmarital birth rate has many explanations—a cultural shift toward acceptance of unwed childbearing; a lack of positive alternatives to motherhood among the less advantaged; a sense of fatalism or ambivalence about pregnancy; a lack of marriageable men; limited access to effective contraception; a lack of knowledge about contraception; and the difficulty of using contraception consistently and correctly. Noting that these explanations fall generally into three categories—motivation, knowledge, and access—the authors discuss policies designed to motivate individuals to avoid unintended pregnancies, to improve their knowledge about contraception, and to remove barriers to contraceptive access. Some motivational programs, such as media campaigns, have been effective in changing behavior. Some, but not all, sex education programs designed to reduce teen pregnancy have also been effective at reducing sexual activity or increasing contraceptive use, or both. Programs providing access to subsidized contraception have also been effective and would be even more so if they could increase the use not just of contraceptives, but of long-acting, reversible contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and implants. Finally, the authors present simulations of the costs and effects of three policy initiatives—a mass media campaign that encourages men to use condoms, a teen pregnancy prevention program that discourages sexual activity and educates participants about proper contraceptive use, and an expansion in access to Medicaid-subsidized contraception. All three have benefit-cost ratios that are comfortably greater than one, making them excellent social investments that can actually save taxpayer dollars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Future of Children is the property of Future of Children and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1353/foc.2010.0004
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 23
        StartPage: 133
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Attitude (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Behavior modification
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Birth control
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Contraception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Cost effectiveness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health services accessibility
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Motivation (Psychology)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Sex education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Single parents
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teenage parents
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Government policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Family relations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: At-risk people
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Birth rate
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pregnancy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Public welfare
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Self-efficacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social marketing
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Socioeconomic factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Unplanned pregnancy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health literacy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Prevention
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychosocial factors
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families.
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              Text: Fall2010
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