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Abortion and Women’s Future Socioeconomic Attainment

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  • Bethany G. Everett
  • Catherine J. Taylor

Abstract

Abortion is a safe and common medical procedure. Roughly one in four women in the United States will have an abortion before the end of her reproductive years. Because of how common this experience is and how rapidly abortion policy is shifting, understanding the relationship between abortion and women’s socioeconomic futures is well worth exploring. Extant research has demonstrated that the transition to parenthood is a critical inflection point in women’s socioeconomic trajectories, often leading to poorer outcomes. In this article, we connect previous sociological work elucidating mechanisms of socioeconomic stratification and gender by considering the relationship between abortion use and access and future socioeconomic outcomes such as education, income, and financial stability—as measured by several measures, including evictions, debt, ability to pay bills, and a separate index of economic instability. We use national longitudinal survey data to assess socioeconomic outcomes associated with abortion using two statistical approaches. We find that women who lived in a location with fewer abortion restrictions in adolescence, and women who had an abortion, compared to a live birth, in adolescence, are more likely to have graduated from college, have higher incomes, and have greater financial stability at two time-points over an almost 25-year period. Our results provide evidence that policy environments allowing access to abortion, and teenagers having the option to use abortion to avoid early parenthood, are important axes along which women’s economic lives are shaped. Our research implies that the widespread abortion bans and restrictions in the United States are likely to lead to lower educational attainment and adult economic stability among women living under such restrictions, as compared to women in locations with better access to abortion.

Suggested Citation

  • Bethany G. Everett & Catherine J. Taylor, 2024. "Abortion and Women’s Future Socioeconomic Attainment," American Sociological Review, , vol. 89(6), pages 1044-1074, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amsocr:v:89:y:2024:i:6:p:1044-1074
    DOI: 10.1177/00031224241292058
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jonathan Gruber & Phillip Levine & Douglas Staiger, 1999. "Abortion Legalization and Child Living Circumstances: Who is the "Marginal Child"?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(1), pages 263-291.
    2. Martha J. Bailey, 2006. "More Power to the Pill: The Impact of Contraceptive Freedom on Women's Life Cycle Labor Supply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 289-320.
    3. David E. Kalist, 2004. "Abortion and Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence Prior to Roe v. Wade," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 25(3), pages 503-514, July.
    4. Fischer, Stefanie & Royer, Heather & White, Corey, 2018. "The impacts of reduced access to abortion and family planning services on abortions, births, and contraceptive purchases," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 43-68.
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