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The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Child Health Outcomes and Abandonment. Evidence from Romania

Author

Listed:
  • Mitrut Andreea

    (Department of Economics [Gothenburg] - GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg)

  • François-Charles Wolff

    (LEMNA - Laboratoire d'économie et de management de Nantes Atlantique - IEMN-IAE Nantes - Institut d'Économie et de Management de Nantes - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - UN - Université de Nantes)

Abstract

We use household survey data and a unique census of institutionalized children to analyze the impact of abortion legalization in Romania. More exactly, we exploit the lift of the abortion ban in December 1989, when communist dictator Ceausescu and his regime were removed from power, to understand its impact on children's health at birth and during early childhood. Also, we try to understand whether the lift of the ban had an immediate impact on child abandonment. Our study suggests a positive, albeit modest, effect of abortion legalization on children's health at birth, while we do not find any significant effect on their health outcomes when measured by standard anthropometric z-scores at age 4 and 5. With respect to the permanently institutionalized (i.e., abandoned children), our findings suggest that abortion legalization had no immediate effect on child abandonment.

Suggested Citation

  • Mitrut Andreea & François-Charles Wolff, 2010. "The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Child Health Outcomes and Abandonment. Evidence from Romania," Working Papers hal-00470578, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00470578
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00470578v1
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    2. Gábor Hajdu & Tamás Hajdu, 2021. "The long-term impact of restricted access to abortion on children’s socioeconomic outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Clarke, Damian & Mühlrad, Hanna, 2021. "Abortion laws and women’s health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Pieroni, Luca & Roig, Melcior Rosselló & Salmasi, Luca & Turati, Gilberto, 2025. "Legal status and voluntary abortions by immigrants," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Valente, Christine, 2014. "Access to abortion, investments in neonatal health, and sex-selection: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 225-243.
    6. Bao, Xiaojia & Galiani, Sebastian & Li, Kai & Long, Cheryl Xiaoning, 2023. "Where have all the children gone? An empirical study of child abandonment and abduction in China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 95-119.
    7. José-Ignacio Antón & Zuleika Ferre & Patricia Triunfo, 2016. "The impact of abortion legalisation on birth outcomes in Uruguay," Economics working papers 2016-06, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    8. José‐Ignacio Antón & Zuleika Ferre & Patricia Triunfo, 2018. "The impact of the legalisation of abortion on birth outcomes in Uruguay," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(7), pages 1103-1119, July.
    9. Hjalmarsson, Randi & Mitrut, Andreea & Pop-Eleches, Cristian, 2021. "The impact of abortion on crime and crime-related behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    10. Kelly M. Jones, 2015. "Contraceptive Supply and Fertility Outcomes: Evidence from Ghana," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(1), pages 31-69.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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