Abortion Bans and Young Women’s Labor Supply: Evidence from the Dobbs Decision
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摘要
This paper provides evidence on the impact of the 2022 Dobbs decision on the labor supply of young women (ages 18–24). [page::1] Exploiting the implementation of state-level abortion bans, I use monthly CPS micro data from January 2021 to December 2023 and estimate Difference-in-Differences (DiD) and Triple-Difference (DDD) models. [page::1] In a simple DiD comparing young women in ban versus protected states, labor force participation increases by 3.6 percentage points (p < 0.05), while young men’s participation in ban states falls by 2.9 percentage points (p < 0.05). [page::1] My preferred DDD specification with state-by-month and gender-interacted fixed effects implies a 6.6 percentage point (p < 0.05) increase in labor force participation for young women in ban states relative to young men in the same states. [page::1] School enrollment does not change, whereas employment rises by about 3 percentage points. [page::1] These findings indicate that restricted reproductive rights are associated with an immediate increase in young women’s labor market attachment, potentially shifting focus toward current earnings over human capital accumulation in the short run. [page::1]
