Evaluation of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program on Teen Birth in the United States Using a Synthetic Control Approach

Jianjun Hong, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Lucy Sorensen, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
Ashley Fox , University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)

The Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program was implemented by the Office of Adolescent Health in 2010 with the aim to fund evidence-based programs in order to reduce teen-births. This paper evaluates the effect of the TPP program on teenage births using panel natality data from 2004 to 2015. Applying a synthetic-control approach to compare trends in counties receiving TPP grants to similar counties not receiving TPP grants, and controlling for time-variant factors, the analysis shows that the TPP program reduced teen births by 3 per 100,000 female teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S. Every dollar spent on the TPP program saved $0.02 over a three-year period compared with the medical and economic support that the government would have provided to a teenager mother during her pregnancy and the child’s first year of infancy. We conclude that while the TPP program has had an impact, the return on investment is small.

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 Presented in Session 60. Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health