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The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion

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  • Sarah Miller
  • Laura R. Wherry
  • Diana Greene Foster

Abstract

This paper evaluates the financial and economic consequences of being denied an abortion. We link credit report data to the Turnaway Study, which collected high-quality, longitudinal data on women receiving or being denied a wanted abortion in the United States. We compare financial outcomes over a ten-year period for women who had pregnancies just above and below a gestational age limit allowing for a wanted abortion. Outcomes evolved similarly for the two groups prior to the abortion encounter. Following the encounter, women who were denied an abortion experience a large increase in financial distress that remains for several years.

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  • Sarah Miller & Laura R. Wherry & Diana Greene Foster, 2023. "The Economic Consequences of Being Denied an Abortion," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 394-437, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:15:y:2023:i:1:p:394-437
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210159
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    Cited by:

    1. Janys, Lena & Siflinger, Bettina, 2024. "Mental health and abortions among young women: time-varying unobserved heterogeneity, health behaviors, and risky decisions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(1).
    2. Graham Gardner, 2024. "Notification and consent: the differential effects of parental involvement laws on teen abortion," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1517-1550, December.
    3. Martha J. Bailey & Vanessa Wanner Lang & Alexa Prettyman & Iris Vrioni & Lea J. Bart & Daniel Eisenberg & Paula Fomby & Jennifer Barber & Vanessa Dalton, 2023. "How Costs Limit Contraceptive Use among Low-Income Women in the U.S.: A Randomized Control Trial," NBER Working Papers 31397, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Christa N. Gibbs & Benedict Guttman-Kenney & Donghoon Lee & Scott Nelson & Wilbert Van der Klaauw & Jialan Wang, 2024. "Consumer Credit Reporting Data," Staff Reports 1114, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    5. Dench, Daniel & Pineda-Torres, Mayra & Myers, Caitlin, 2024. "The effects of post-Dobbs abortion bans on fertility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. Caitlin Myers, 2024. "Forecasts for a post‐Roe America: The effects of increased travel distance on abortions and births," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(1), pages 39-62, January.
    7. Anna Bárdits & Anna Adamecz & Márta Bisztray & Andrea Weber & Ágnes Szabó-Morvai, 2023. "Precautionary Fertility: Conceptions, Births, and Abortions around Employment Shocks," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2303, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    8. Clarke, Damian, 2023. "The Economics of Abortion Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 16395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Jones, Kelly M. & Pineda-Torres, Mayra, 2024. "TRAP’d Teens: Impacts of abortion provider regulations on fertility & education," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    10. Gorkem Turgut Ozer & Brad N. Greenwood & Anandasivam Gopal, 2023. "Digital Multisided Platforms and Women’s Health: An Empirical Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Lending and Abortion Rates," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(1), pages 223-252, March.
    11. Gopi Shah Goda & Evan J. Soltas, 2022. "The Impacts of Covid-19 Illnesses on Workers," NBER Working Papers 30435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Rocca, Corinne H. & Moseson, Heidi & Gould, Heather & Foster, Diana G. & Kimport, Katrina, 2021. "Emotions over five years after denial of abortion in the United States: Contextualizing the effects of abortion denial on women's health and lives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    13. Myers, Caitlin Knowles, 2021. "Cooling off or Burdened? The Effects of Mandatory Waiting Periods on Abortions and Births," IZA Discussion Papers 14434, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. António Melo, 2024. "Do all roads lead to the same destination? Proximity to abortion providers, abortions, and their conditions in Portugal," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-31, December.
    15. Lu, Runjing & Ye, Zihan, 2023. "Roe v. Rates: Reproductive Healthcare and Public Financing Costs," SocArXiv 7t5jz, Center for Open Science.
    16. 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.
    17. Dimico, Arcangelo, 2024. "The Effect of Abortion Policies on Fertility and Human Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa," QBS Working Paper Series 2024/06, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    18. Johanna Catherine Maclean & Ioana Popovici & Christopher J. Ruhm, 2023. "Does Paid Sick Leave Facilitate Reproductive Choice?," NBER Working Papers 31801, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Dench, Daniel & Pineda-Torres, Mayra & Myers, Caitlin Knowles, 2023. "The Effects of the Dobbs Decision on Fertility," IZA Discussion Papers 16608, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Sara Rellstab & Pieter Bakx & Pilar Garci‡-G—mez, 2022. "Human Capital Formation: The Effect of a Miscarriage on Mental Health, Labour Market, and Family Outcomes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 22-027/V, Tinbergen Institute.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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