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Family Planning

An individual's or couple's decisions on when to have children or start a family may also have social and economic consequences on the community at large. RAND's family planning research spans various populations and socioeconomic backgrounds in Western as well as developing countries and addresses such topics as fertility and infertility, birth control, abortion, reproductive technologies, child welfare, household economic security, and community impact.

Commentary
Your Health Insurance May Not Be As Good As Your State Requires—and It's Perfectly Legal
Massachusetts has a law to ensure ease of access to birth control pills, saying there should be no copays and women can fill a 12-month prescription at once. Infertility care has similar protections. But many health plans don't have to comply with state laws because they are “self-insured.”
Jun 9, 2023
News Release
Landmark Women's Reproductive Health Survey Shows Need for Improvements in DoD Reproductive Health Care
Improvements to reproductive health care services provided by the U.S. Department of Defense would allow DoD to better meet the needs of female service members and address the high rate of unintended pregnancies among active-duty service women.
Sep 13, 2022
Research Brief
Women's Reproductive Health Survey (WRHS) of Active-Duty Service Members: Summary Findings and Policy Implications
This brief summarizes results from the RAND-developed Women’s Reproductive Health Survey (WRHS), conducted to better understand active-duty service women’s experiences with reproductive health.
Sep 13, 2022
Research Brief
The Women's Reproductive Health Survey (WRHS) of Active-Duty Service Members: Methods and Analysis
This brief reviews the methods and analysis of the RAND-developed U.S. Department of Defense Women's Reproductive Health Survey, conducted to better understand active-duty service women's experiences with reproductive health.
Sep 13, 2022
Report
The Women's Reproductive Health Survey (WRHS) of Active-Duty Service Members
The Women's Reproductive Health Survey addresses legislation requiring a survey about access to family planning and counseling services among active-duty service women.
Sep 13, 2022
Commentary
South Korea's Extraordinary Fertility Decline
The complicated history of family planning as well as socioeconomic and political factors may all play roles in depressing birth rates in South Korea. But the nation's fertility decline is just one piece in a complicated gender puzzle.
Jul 22, 2022
Journal Article
The Impact of Parental Involvement Laws on the Abortion Rate of Minors
We conduct a comprehensive analysis of the effect of parental involvement laws on the incidence of abortions to minors in the United States.
Jan 26, 2021
Journal Article
Fertility Behaviors in South Korea and Their Association with Ultrasound Prenatal Sex Screening
Using the 1985, 1995, and 2005 Korean Censuses, we find significant period effects suggesting that sex ratios at birth became unnaturally imbalanced when ultrasound technology became available..
Mar 14, 2018
Journal Article
Fertility, Gender Preference, the Birth Planning Policy and Life Satisfaction in China
Investigation of Birth Planning Policy effect on parity-specific birth continuation probabilities and parental life satisfaction as a function of the numbers and gender composition of children both before and after the implementation of the BPP.
Mar 14, 2018
Research Brief
Evaluating Global Family Planning Programs
In 2013, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched two programs to help track progress toward a global goal to increase modern contraceptive use by 2020. Evaluating these programs, researchers found opportunities for improvement in four areas.
Feb 5, 2018
Report
Evaluation of Two Programs Supporting Global Family Planning Data Needs: Assessing Achievements, Informing Future Directions
This evaluation of two programs that help monitor progress toward a global goal to increase modern contraceptive use by 2020 is based on qualitative and quantitative data from interviews with more than 260 stakeholders in 16 countries.
Feb 5, 2018
Report
Evaluation of Two Programs Supporting Global Family Planning Data Needs: Summary
This report summarizes an evaluation of two programs that help monitor progress toward a global goal to increase modern contraceptive use by 2020.
Feb 5, 2018
Journal Article
Safer Conception for Couples Affected by HIV: Structural and Cultural Considerations in the Delivery of Safer Conception Care in Uganda
Sociocultural and structural factors, such as a reluctance to discuss childbearing desires, can present barriers to the implementation of safer conception counseling for HIV-affected couples.
Aug 3, 2017
Journal Article
Prevalence and Correlates of Use of Safer Conception Methods in a Prospective Cohort of Ugandan HIV-affected Couples with Fertility Intentions
Among a sample of Ugandan couples with an HIV-positive partner who hope to conceive, about one-third used a "safer" conception method such as timed unprotected intercourse to reduce HIV transmission, but only about half were aware of such methods.
Mar 16, 2017
Journal Article
Engaging Human Rights in the Response to the Evolving Zika Virus Epidemic
Public health responses to the Zika virus that incorporate a human rights perspective have the potential to be more equitable, effective, and sustainable interventions.
Mar 16, 2017
Commentary
The Economic Rationale for Investing in Family Planning in Sub-Saharan Africa
Proven benefits to reduced fertility — or to delayed start to childbearing and greater spacing between births — include lower maternal mortality, fewer unsafe abortions, reduced risks from early childbearing, and women's ability to engage in more income-generating opportunities.
Aug 3, 2016
Journal Article
Multi-level Correlates of Safer Conception Methods Awareness and Attitudes Among Ugandan HIV Clients with Fertility Intentions
We examined awareness and attitudes towards SCM, and the correlates of these constructs among 400 HIV clients with fertility intentions in Uganda.
Jun 5, 2016
Commentary
Policy Barriers to Best Practices in Women's Health
Long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods of birth control, which include the intrauterine device and subdermal implant, are highly effective, very safe, preferable to women, and cost effective. But some states' contraceptive policies create direct and indirect barriers to LARC use.
Nov 6, 2015
Journal Article
Benefits of PrEP as an Adjunctive Method of HIV Prevention During Attempted Conception Between HIV-uninfected Women and HIV-infected Male Partners
Data on effectiveness of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)–uninfected women attempting conception with HIV-infected male partners are limited to observational studies.
Jul 8, 2015
Commentary
Family Planning Must Be Part of the Humanitarian Response in Africa's Conflict Zones
Worldwide, nearly 800 women die every day due to mostly preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. More than half of these deaths occur in fragile states torn by armed conflict and generalized violence.
Jul 1, 2015

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RAND Topic:
Family Planning

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