Economic factors play a key role in determining fertility and the number of abortions performed. This study examines how changes in county-level socioeconomic and social factors are associated with abortion incidence in Pennsylvania from 2015 to 2022. Past research used state-level data to examine how changes in socioeconomic factors relate to the number of abortions in the United States. However, variation in reporting quality across states may bias these estimates. We use detailed county-level abortion data from the Pennsylvania, being one of the states with the most detailed abortion-related record-keeping in the United States. We use fixed-effects analysis to examine how changes in these socioeconomic factors are related to the number of abortions. While most researchers use the abortion rate (abortions x 1000 women of childbearing age) as their proxy for abortion incidence, we use the abortion ratio (abortions x 1000 live births), allowing us to account for variations in contraceptive use. Our results suggest that increases in the poverty rate and reductions in the level of education are associated with a higher incidence of abortion, consistent with previous literature on the importance of poverty reduction for women’s health. We also offer some preliminary evidence on important social factors. Specifically, the effects of political partisanship; proximity to an abortion clinic; and the role of religion -using the US Religion Census, published by the Public Religion Research Institute and the only survey with reliable county-level data- as factors potentially determining the incidence of abortion.

Authors:
Guido Giuntini, West Chester University, United States
Allyssa Wadsworth, University of Houston-Clear Lake, United States
Michael Malcom, West Chester University, United States

About the Presenter(s)
Mr. Guido Giuntini is a full-time adjunct at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, USA. His main interests are social economics and demographic studies.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/guido-giuntini-379921a0/

See this presentation on the full schedule – Saturday Schedule

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