The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime

John Donohue and Steven Levitt

No 8004, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We offer evidence that legalized abortion has contributed significantly to recent crime reductions. Crime began to fall roughly 18 years after abortion legalization. The 5 states that allowed abortion in 1970 experienced declines earlier than the rest of the nation, which legalized in 1973 with Roe v. Wade. States with high abortion rates in the 1970s and 1980s experienced greater crime reductions in the 1990s. In high abortion states, only arrests of those born after abortion legalization fall relative to low abortion states. Legalized abortion appears to account for as much as 50 percent of the recent drop in crime.

Date: 2000-11
Note: CH LE PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Published as Donohue, John J., III and Steven D. Levitt. "The Impact Of Legalized Abortion On Crime," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2001, v116(2,May), 379-420.

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Journal Article: The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime (2001)
Working Paper: The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Crime (2000)
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