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

Autor/inn/en	Sawhill, Isabel; Thomas, Adam; Monea, Emily
Titel	An Ounce of Prevention: Policy Prescriptions to Reduce the Prevalence of Fragile Families
Quelle	In: Future of Children, 20 (2010) 2, S.133-155 (23 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1054-8289
Schlagwörter	Contraception; Prevention; Birth Rate; Pregnancy; Sexuality; Mass Media; Cost Effectiveness; At Risk Persons; Marital Status; Marriage; Social Problems; Motivation; Knowledge Level; Barriers; Access to Health Care; Sex Education; Cultural Influences; Adolescents + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Empfängnisverhütung; Prävention; Vorbeugung; Schwangerschaft; Sexualität; Massenmedien; Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse; Kosten-Nutzen-Denken; Risikogruppe; Familienstand; Ehe; Social problem; Soziales Problem; psychologische; Motivation (psychologisch); Wissensbasis; Sex instruction; Sexualaufklärung; Sexualerziehung; Sexualkunde; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Adolescent; Adolescence; Adoleszenz; Jugend; Jugendalter; Jugendlicher
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. (Contains 1 figure, 3 tables and 66 endnotes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. 267 Wallace Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544. Tel: 609-258-6979; e-mail: FOC@princeton.edu; Web site: http://www.brookings.org/index/publications.htm
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10