The Pill and Partnerships: The impact of the birth control pill on cohabitation

This paper investigates the impact on cohabitation behavior of the introduction and dispersion of the birth control pill in the US during the 1960s and early 1970s. A theoretical model generates several predictions that are tested using the …rst wave of the National Survey of Families and Households. Empirically, the causal e¤ect is identi…ed by exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in state laws granting access the pill to unmarried women under age 21. The evidence shows that the pill was a catalyst that increased cohabitation’s role in selecting marriage partners, but did little in the short run to promote cohabitation as a substitute for marriage. JEL Classi…cations: J11, J12 I am grateful for helpful comments and suggestions I received from Chad Meyerhoefer, Juergen Jung, Ari Kang, and seminar participants at Towson University, the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, and the Midwest Economics Association. Any errors are my own. E-mail: [email protected]; phone: 410.704.2675; URL: http://pages.towson.edu/fchriste.