Family planning and child health careEvidence from a permanent aggressive intervention

Resumen

Our study aims at estimating the effects of the exposure to an unusual family planning program on child mortality and child health. The PNSRPF, carried out in Peru during the period 1996-2000, promoted for the first time in the country voluntary surgical contraception. Yet, many indigenous women from rural areas were sterilized using coercion. We use DHS self-reported information on sterilization among indigenous women, if and when it took place —corroborated by other official data at the aggregate level— to identify which provinces were exposed to the program and at which point in time. By exploiting the geographical and time variation in its implementation, we can compare provinces affected by the program before (treated) with provinces affected later (control), before and after the policy. Results suggest that children in treated provinces are less likely to die within their first year of life and are breast-fed for longer compared to children in control provinces. Women in treated areas are also more likely to use temporary contraceptive methods. Nonetheless, we observe differential impacts by ethnic groups in treated provinces: while non-indigenous children benefit from the policy regardless of the contraceptive method adopted by their mothers, almost all its positive impacts are washed away for indigenous children whose mothers got sterilized.