Downstream Effects of Post-Dobbs Abortion Bans: Birth Rates and WIC

Lilly Springer
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Lilly Springer: Department of Economics, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA

No 202513, WORKING PAPERS SERIES IN THEORETICAL AND APPLIED ECONOMICS from University of Kansas, Department of Economics

Abstract: Abortion bans tend to impact the cohorts of women that are eligible for the supplement nutrition program WIC the most. I use synthetic difference-in-differences models and 2017-2023 monthly state-level CDC and USDA data to estimate if states with total abortion bans experience a change in birth rates and WIC participation. I find that states that implemented a total abortion ban by the start of 2023 experience a 2% increase in the overall birth rate in the first 6 months of the year and a 2.1% and 4.2% increase in monthly infant and postpartum women WIC participation respectively, leading to a total additional $8.9 million in food costs.

Keywords: abortion; Dobbs; fertility; WIC; abortion ban; Roe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I18 I38 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05, Revised 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem
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