ArticleThe Milbank quarterly2018
Identifying Causal Effects of Reproductive Health Improvements on Women's Economic Empowerment Through the Population Poverty Research Initiative.
Article in The Milbank quarterly, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unmet need for family planning among reproductive-age women living with HIV in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC women's health · 2026Pooled it
- Does family planning use empower women? A systematic review of the evidence.Reproductive health · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of a Digital Health Tool on Contraceptive Ideation and Use in Nigeria: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Control Trial.Global health, science and practice · 2019Trial
- Sociopolitical indicators of food insecurity: a study of 25 US states.Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- Alleviating price and information barriers to long-acting contraception uptake in Kenyan pharmacies using patient and provider incentives: a cluster randomized control trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Abortion restrictions and female medical school applicants: A retrospective study.PLOS global public health · 2026Article
- Family planning under sociocultural influence: evaluating knowledge, access, and utilization in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Article
- Contraception to women's economic empowerment: A narrative review.World development · 2025Review
- Influence of Socio-Ecological and Economic Correlates on Marijuana Legalization Policy Across the States of America.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Labor Market Attachment: Sequence Analysis.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Global fertility in 204 countries and territories, 1950-2021, with forecasts to 2100: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021.Lancet (London, England) · 2024Article
- Balancing evidence-informed and user-responsive design: Experience with human-centered design to generate layered economic empowerment and SRH programming in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nigeria.Gates open research · 2023Article
- COVID-19 impacts on abortion care-seeking experiences in the Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia regions of the United States.Perspectives on sexual and reproductive health · 2022Article
- Predictors of Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Girls Involved in the Juvenile Legal System: the Influence of Resources, Race, and Ethnicity.Children and youth services review · 2022Article
- Does a Rising Median Income Lift All Birth Weights? County Median Income Changes and Low Birth Weight Rates Among Births to Black and White Mothers.The Milbank quarterly · 2022Article
- Thirty-five years later: Long-term effects of the Matlab maternal and child health/family planning program on older women's well-being.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Planning for work: Exploring the relationship between contraceptive use and women's sector-specific employment in India.PloS one · 2021Article
- The impact of vaccination on gender equity: conceptual framework and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine case study.International journal for equity in health · 2020Review
- Inequality in total fertility rates and the proximate determinants of fertility in 21 sub-Saharan African countries.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Policy Points: Improvements in reproductive health lead to improvements in women's economic empowerment. Contraceptive use improves women's agency, education, and labor force participation; higher maternal age at first birth (reducing adolescent childbearing) increases the likelihood of school completion and participation in the formal labor market; and having fewer children increases labor market participation. Reproductive health is not just a benefit to a woman's individual rights, but her gateway for breaking free from her poverty trap and improving the welfare of herself, her children, and her household. CONTEXT: Women's access to employment, business opportunities, and financial resources is critical to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals over the next 15 years. With increased attention to women's economic empowerment among donors and policymakers across the globe, this moment is a pivotal one in which to review the current state of the research on this topic.
methodsWe reviewed the Population and Poverty (PopPov) Research Initiative results from the past 10 years with attention to the causal link between reproductive health improvements and women's economic empowerment, in addition to seminal research that informed our understanding of the link.
findingsOur review of PopPov findings revealed that improvements in reproductive health do lead to improvements in women's economic empowerment; expanding contraceptive use improves women's agency, education, and labor force participation; higher maternal age at first birth (reducing adolescent childbearing) increases the likelihood of school completion and participation in the formal labor market; and having fewer children increases labor force participation.
conclusionsGaps remain in measuring women's work and in the full exploration of women's economic empowerment. More research is needed regarding the long-term impact of reproductive health improvements on women's economic empowerment, as some studies have shown that at times unintended negative consequences occur after early positive improvements.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.