IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v91y2010i1p266-283.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Welfare Generosity, Abortion Access, and Abortion Rates: A Comparison of State Policy Tools

Author

Listed:
  • Laura S. Hussey

Abstract

Objective. This article tests if welfare generosity is related to abortion rates, allowing effects to vary by program type and abortion policy context. Methods. Measuring welfare generosity with respect to cash assistance, family caps, Medicaid, child care and family leave policies, I estimate fixed effects models of abortion rates in 48 U.S. states over 1987–2000. Results. More expansive family leave laws are associated with lower abortion rates. In states that do not enforce any of three key abortion policies, increased Medicaid eligibility and child care spending predict higher abortion rates. For Medicaid, this relationship diminishes and reverses itself as states add abortion regulations. Conclusion. Welfare state expansions may help reduce abortion, but programs' effects are not unambiguously pro‐natalist. Estimated impacts of welfare generosity on abortion rates vary by program, and some with abortion policy context.

Suggested Citation

  • Laura S. Hussey, 2010. "Welfare Generosity, Abortion Access, and Abortion Rates: A Comparison of State Policy Tools," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(1), pages 266-283, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:91:y:2010:i:1:p:266-283
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00692.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00692.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2010.00692.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marshall H. Medoff, 2002. "The Determinants and Impact of State Abortion Restrictions," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 481-493, April.
    2. Theodore Joyce & Robert Kaestner, 1996. "The effect of expansions in medicaid income eligibility on abortion," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(2), pages 181-192, May.
    3. Deborah Haas-Wilson, 1996. "The Impact of State Abortion Restrictions on Minors' Demand for Abortions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(1), pages 140-158.
    4. Unknown, 2004. "Effects Of Food Assistance And Nutrition Programs On Nutrition And Health: Volume 3, Literature Review," Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Reports 33863, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. Anna Aizer & Jeffrey Grogger, 2003. "Parental Medicaid Expansions and Health Insurance Coverage," NBER Working Papers 9907, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    7. Lundberg, Shelly & Plotnick, Robert D, 1995. "Adolescent Premarital Childbearing: Do Economic Incentives Matter?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 177-200, April.
    8. Ted Joyce & Robert Kaestner & Sanders Korenman & Stanley Henshaw, 2004. "Family Cap Provisions and Changes in Births and Abortions," NBER Working Papers 10214, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Meier, K.J. & McFarlane, D.R., 1994. "State family planning and abortion expenditures: Their effect on public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 84(9), pages 1468-1472.
    10. Anne Gauthier, 2007. "The impact of family policies on fertility in industrialized countries: a review of the literature," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 26(3), pages 323-346, June.
    11. Stephan F. Gohmann & Robert L. Ohsfeldt, 1993. "Effects Of Price And Availability On Abortion Demand," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 11(4), pages 42-55, October.
    12. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    13. Fox, Mary Kay & Hamilton, William L. & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2004. "Effects Of Food Assistance And Nutrition Programs On Nutrition And Health: Volume 4, Executive Summary Of The Literature Review," Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Reports 33871, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    14. David Blau & Philip Robins, 1991. "Child care demand and labor supply of young mothers over time," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 28(3), pages 333-351, August.
    15. Jay Bainbridge & Marcia K. Meyers & Jane Waldfogel, 2003. "Child Care Policy Reform and the Employment of Single Mothers," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 84(4), pages 771-791, December.
    16. Arleen Leibowitz & Winston Chow & Marvin Eisen, 1986. "An economic model of teenage pregnancy decision-making," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 23(1), pages 67-77, February.
    17. Kenneth Meier & Donald Haider-Markel & Anthony Stanislawski & Deborah Mcfarlane, 1996. "The impact of state-level restrictions on abortion," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 33(3), pages 307-312, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ting-Ting Zhang & Xiu-Yun Cai & Xiao-Hui Shi & Wei Zhu & Shao-Nan Shan, 2023. "The Effect of Family Fertility Support Policies on Fertility, Their Contribution, and Policy Pathways to Fertility Improvement in OECD Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-25, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Laura S. Hussey, 2006. "Are Social Welfare Policies "Pro-Life"? An Individual-Level Analysis of Low-Income Women," Working Papers 896, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    2. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-12-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Mark Gius, 2019. "Using the Synthetic Control Method to Determine the Effect of Ultrasound Laws on State-Level Abortion Rates," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(2), pages 205-215, June.
    4. Thomas Buchmueller & John C. Ham & Lara D. Shore-Sheppard, 2015. "The Medicaid Program," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 1, pages 21-136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Christopher Balding, 2010. "A Modest Proposal for a Two‐Sided Market Clearing Institution under Asymmetric Supply Constraints with Skewed Pricing: The Market for Adoption and Abortion in the United States," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 12(6), pages 1059-1080, December.
    6. Medoff, Marshall H., 2003. "The impact of anti-abortion activities on state abortion rates," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 265-282, July.
    7. Silvie Colman & Theodore J. Joyce, "undated". "Regulating Abortion: Impact on Patients and Providers in Texas," Mathematica Policy Research Reports db01943e8d23431ca26fe3eaf, Mathematica Policy Research.
    8. Clarke, Damian, 2023. "The Economics of Abortion Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 16395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Silvie Colman & Ted Joyce, 2011. "Regulating abortion: Impact on patients and providers in Texas," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(4), pages 775-797, September.
    10. Malte Sandner & Frederik Wiynck, 2023. "The Fertility Response to Cutting Child-Related Welfare Benefits," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-29, April.
    11. Joyce, Theodore & Kaestner, Robert, 1996. "State reproductive policies and adolescent pregnancy resolution: The case of parental involvement laws," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 579-607, October.
    12. Phillip B. Levine, 2001. "The Sexual Activity and Birth-Control Use of American Teenagers," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 167-218, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Marshall Medoff, 2007. "Price, Restrictions and Abortion Demand," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 583-599, December.
    14. Cook, Philip J. & Parnell, Allan M. & Moore, Michael J. & Pagnini, Deanna, 1999. "The effects of short-term variation in abortion funding on pregnancy outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 241-257, April.
    15. Phillip B. Levine & Douglas Staiger, 2002. "Abortion as Insurance," NBER Working Papers 8813, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. repec:mpr:mprres:6548 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Marshall Medoff, 2008. "The Response of Abortion Demand to Changes in Abortion Costs," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 329-346, June.
    18. Ressler, Rand W. & Waters, Melissa S. & Hill, R. Carter, 2011. "Welfare Reform and the Spread of HIV," Review of Applied Economics, Lincoln University, Department of Financial and Business Systems, vol. 7(1-2), pages 1-15, March.
    19. Robert W. Brown & R. Todd Jewell & Jeffrey J. Rous, 2001. "Provider Availability, Race, and Abortion Demand," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(3), pages 656-671, January.
    20. Levine, Phillip B., 2003. "Parental involvement laws and fertility behavior," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 861-878, September.
    21. Bisakha Sen, 2006. "Frequency Of Sexual Activity Among Unmarried Adolescent Girls: Do State Policies Pertaining To Abortion Access Matter?," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 313-330, Spring.
    22. Joelle Abramowitz, 2018. "Planning parenthood: the Affordable Care Act young adult provision and pathways to fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1097-1123, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:91:y:2010:i:1:p:266-283. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.