The Effect of Access to Legal Abortion on Fertility, Marriage and Long-term Outcomes for Women

Libertad González, Sergi Jimenez-Martin, Natalia Nollenberger and Judit Vall Castelló

The Economic Journal, 2026, vol. 136, issue 674, 440-467

Abstract: We evaluate the short- and long-term effects for women of access to legal, subsidised abortion. We find evidence that the legalisation of abortion in Spain in 1985 led to an immediate decrease in births, more pronounced for younger women in provinces with a higher supply of abortion services. Affected women were more likely to graduate from high school, less likely to marry young, less likely to divorce in the long term and reported higher life satisfaction as adults. We find at most small reductions in completed fertility, while we do not find meaningful effects on labour market outcomes in the long run.

Date: 2026
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