The Effect of Access to Legal Abortion on Fertility, Marriage and Long-term Outcomes for Women

Bibliographic Data

ID9714460
AuthorsLibertad González (0000-0003-4555-9652, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics ,), Sergi Jiménez-Martín (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics ,), Sergi Jiménez‐Martín (0000-0002-7393-9612, Barcelona School of Economics), Natalia Nollenberger (0000-0001-7630-2679, IE University), Judit Vall Castello (0000-0002-1925-1657, Universitat de Barcelona , IEB and CRES-UPF)
Year2025
Publication date2025-07-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueaf054
OpenAlexW4412364745
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited41

We evaluate the short- and long-term effects for women of access to legal, subsidised abortion. We find evidence that the legalisation of abortion in Spain in 1985 led to an immediate decrease in births, more pronounced for younger women in provinces with a higher supply of abortion services. Affected women were more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to marry young, less likely to divorce in the long term and reported higher life satisfaction as adults. We find at most small reductions in completed fertility, while we do not find meaningful effects on labour market outcomes in the long run

Abortion · Biology · Demographic economics · Economics · Fertility · Population · Pregnancy · Sociology · Term (time · Demography · Reproductive Health and Contraception · Reproductive Health and Technologies

Tools

Open DOI