RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Abortion Legalization and Life-Cycle Fertility
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 375
OP 397
DO 10.3368/jhr.XLII.2.375
VO XLII
IS 2
A1 Elizabeth Oltmans Ananat
A1 Jonathan Gruber
A1 Phillip Levine
YR 2007
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/XLII/2/375.abstract
AB The early-1970s abortion legalization led to a significant drop in fertility. We investigate whether this decline represented a delay in births or a permanent reduction in fertility. We combine Census and Vital Statistics data to compare the lifetime fertility of women born in early-legalizing states, whose peak childbearing years occurred in the early 1970s, to that of women from other states and cohorts. We find that much of the reduction was permanent, in that women did not compensate by having more children later, and that it largely reflects an increased share of women remaining childless throughout their fertile years.