Case #961.0

Buying Time: The Dollar-a-Day Program

Publication Date: January 1, 1990
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Abstract:
The Dollar-a-Day program created by Rocky Mountain Planned Parenthood takes a novel approach to the problem of repeat pregnancies among the city's low-income teenagers: it pays girls a dollar for every day they do not get pregnant. Other than attendance at a weekly support group meeting, the program makes no demands on its participants. But Dollar-a-Day sparks an intense debate within the national Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York: national board members believe paying poor teenagers not to get pregnant is coercive, and not in keeping with the organization's philosophy of reproductive choice for all.

Learning Objective:
The case poses ethical questions about incentive programs as public policy and offers an illuminating look at how a non-profit copes with a perceived challenge to its goals and mission.

Other Details

Case Author:
Nancy Kates
Faculty Lead:
Marc Roberts
Pages (incl. exhibits):
17
Setting:
United States
Language:
English