Abortion Access and Long-Run Household Outcomes

Speaker: Dr Gregor Pfeifer

Affilition: University of Sydney

Location: Room 101, Chamberlain Building (#35), St Lucia Campus

Abstract: This paper examines the economic impacts of improved access to pregnancy termination using administrative, individual-level data on the full population of Australia. Exploiting a unique setting that resulted from the abortion pill (medical termination) being listed in the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, we first document the change in both pregnancy termination utilization and births for relevant cohorts of pregnant females. Next, we study follow-on effects on labour market, education, and family formation, considering heterogenous effects for different sub-groups. Importantly, we look at spillover impacts to potential partners and existing children in the household.