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The Effect of Abortion Legalization on Teenage Out-Of-Wedlock Childbearing in Future Cohorts

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Author Info
Serkan Ozbeklik
Abstract

In this paper we examine the long-term impact of legalized abortion on teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing in the United States using the birth data from the Vital Statistics of the U. S. Our fundamental argument is analogous to Donahue and Levitt’s (2001): by decreasing the number of unwanted children, legalized abortion had potentially a negative impact on the likelihood of the teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing for the cohorts affected by the legalization. Our preliminary findings indicate that for African-Americans, both 1970 legalization in repeal states and Roe vs. Wade had a long-term impact on out-of-wedlock teenage childbearing so that the cohorts exposed to legalized abortion were less likely to give birth out-of-wedlock as teenagers. For Whites, even though we do not find evidence regarding the impact of the 1970 legalization, our findings suggest that cohorts affected by Roe vs. Wade were less likely to give birth out-of-wedlock as teenagers. Our results support Donahue and Levitt’s findings regarding the crime by showing the importance of selected abortion for the cohorts who were born after abortion was legalized and suggest a different avenue for obtaining a complete understanding of the observed decline in out-of-wedlock teenage childbearing in 1990’s.

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File URL: http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/economics/IEPR/Working%20Papers/IEPR_06.50_%5BOzbeklik%5D.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute of Economic Policy Research (IEPR) in its series IEPR Working Papers with number 06.50.

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Length: 40 pages
Date of creation: May 2006
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Handle: RePEc:scp:wpaper:06-50

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Related research
Keywords: Abortion legalization; teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing; Roe vs. Wade;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J19 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Other

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  1. Ted Joyce, 2001. "Did Legalized Abortion Lower Crime?," NBER Working Papers 8319, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Bronars, Stephen G & Grogger, Jeff, 1994. "The Economic Consequences of Unwed Motherhood: Using Twin Births as a Natural Experiment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1141-56, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Theodore J. Joyce & Naci H. Mocan, 1990. "The Impact of a Ban on Legalized Abortion on Adolescent Childbearing in New York City," NBER Working Papers 3002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David I. Levine & Gary Painter, 2003. "The Schooling Costs of Teenage Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing: Analysis with a Within-School Propensity-Score-Matching Estimator," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 884-900, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. John J. Donohue III & Steven D. Levitt, 2003. "Further Evidence that Legalized Abortion Lowered Crime: A Reply to Joyce," NBER Working Papers 9532, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Clarke, G.R.G. & Strauss, R.P., 1994. "Children as Income Produting Assets: The Case of Teen Illegitimacy and Government Transfers," RCER Working Papers 389, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
  7. Ted Joyce, 2004. "Further Tests of Abortion and Crime," NBER Working Papers 10564, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat & Jonathan Gruber & Phillip B. Levine & Douglas Staiger, 2006. "Abortion and Selection," NBER Working Papers 12150, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. An, Chong-Bum & Haveman, Robert & Wolfe, Barbara, 1993. "Teen Out-of-Wedlock Births and Welfare Receipt: The Role of Childhood Events and Economic Circumstances," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 75(2), pages 195-208, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Geronimus, Arline T & Korenman, Sanders, 1992. "The Socioeconomic Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(4), pages 1187-214, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. John J. Donohue & Steven D. Levitt, 2001. "The Impact Of Legalized Abortion On Crime," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 116(2), pages 379-420, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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