By Vanessa • 16 years ago

Recession dramatically changing women’s childbearing decisions


I can’t afford a child, I’m going on the pill! Oh snap, I can’t afford that either…
The Guttmacher Institute released a new study yesterday revealing that the economic recession has not only caused women to be less prone to want to have children, but literally half of the women researched said the recession has led them to either delay pregnancy or limit the number of children they have.
On top of the cost of birth control, we’re in a bind that leaves us pretty much screwed; while women want to avoid getting pregnant because they can’t afford a kid, amost one in four women have put off seeing a gynecologist in the past year to save money, and report having a harder time paying for birth control than they did in the past. Dr. Sharon Camp, Guttmacher president and CEO, put out a statement:

“The recession has put many women–including middle-class women who are having trouble making ends meet–in an untenable situation. They want to avoid unintended pregnancy more than ever, but at the same time are having difficulty affording the out-of-pocket costs of prescription contraception. Unfortunately, while delaying a prescription refill or skipping pills may save women money in the short term, it increases their risk of an unintended pregnancy and results in greater costs related to abortion and unplanned birth later on.”

Check out the entire report, “A Real-Time Look at the Impact of the Recession on Women’s Family Planning and Pregnancy Decisions.”
h/t to Leila.

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