The Effects of Unintended Pregnancy on Children

M-CARES uses a randomized control trial design to assess the effects of providing free contraception to mothers on their children born before the intervention. The population subject to intervention is fecund women age 18-35 years at risk of pregnancy and who are clients at Planned Parenthood clinics of Michigan (PPMI), who meet income eligibility criteria, and who would otherwise pay out-of-pocket for services on the day of recruitment (i.e., lacking insurance coverage for received service). The experimental (treatment) condition is a mother's receipt of a voucher providing access to no-cost contraception (up to the price of a name-brand intrauterine device) for 100 days. The control group of mothers receives no voucher. All enrolled women complete a two-part baseline survey and consent to be re-contacted for two follow-up interviews in outgoing years. They also complete a two-part baseline survey and consent to be re-contacted for two follow up interviews in outgoing years. In addition, mothers consent to linkages to their own and their children's administrative data from records held by state and federal health, education, criminal justice, and tax records. Consent covers children already born to women at the time of intervention and children born after intervention. Survey and administrative data provide outcome measures to assess children's well-being and development up to age 18. The study will compare children of mothers who receive the intervention to those who did not.