Page 81 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

Reproductive Rights and Women’s Economic Security: Pieces of the Same Puzzle
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Janet Crepps and Kelly Baden1
Headlines from Texas and Mississippi all the way to Capitol Hill make clear that our constitutionally-protected rights to abortion are under threat . Yet the steady dismantling of reproductive rights must also be recognized as an attack on women’s economic lives . In order to advance reproductive freedom and justice, it is imperative that we understand and address the connection between the erosions of reproductive rights, access to health care, and poverty .
Low-Income Women in the United States
Between 2012 and 2013, the U .S . poverty rate fell for the first time since 2006; but while rates fell for both women and men, women are still disproportionately likely to live in poverty in the U .S . as compared to men .2 Troubling racial disparities in household wealth have become more pronounced . Between 2010 and 2013, the median wealth of non-Hispanic white households increased by 2 .4 percent while that of Hispanic households fell by 14 .3 percent and non-Hispanic black households’ median wealth fell by a shocking 33 .7 percent .3 Many women in the U .S ., and especially women of color, are experiencing precarious personal economic situations, which make their ability to receive and afford comprehensive reproductive health care all the more crucial .
Deciding whether and when to have a child is one of the most profound economic decisions a woman makes in her lifetime, and her existing economic circumstances impact her reproductive health care decisions . While the cost of having and raising a child varies, depending on income level, a two-parent family making less than $61,530 a year can expect to spend on average $176,550 on a child from birth up to age 18 .4 Middle or higher-earning families can expect to spend on average $245,340 or $407,820 .5 Not only do our economic circumstances impact our reproductive health care decisions, but our health care decisions impact our economic lives .
The centrality of reproductive health to women’s lives—and that of their children and families— means that traditional reproductive rights issues like access to family planning services and abortion care are only part of the puzzle when considering women’s economic security . Issues like paid family leave, paid sick leave, and pregnant women’s health and rights are also crucial to combatting the inequalities faced by low-income women . The barriers to family planning and abortion care that already exist and especially impact low-income women may be compounded
1 Janet Crepps is Senior Counsel and Kelly Baden is Director of State Advocacy for the Center for Reproductive Rights, www.reproductiverights.org.
2 carmen denavas-walT & BernadeTTe d. procTor, u.s. census Bureau, income and poverTy in The u.s.:2013 12, 15 (Sept. 2014), available at http://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249.pdf.
3 Rakesh Kochhar & Richard Fry, Wealth Inequality has Widened Along Racial, Ethnic Lines Since End of Great Recession, pew research cenTer (Dec. 12, 2014), http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/12/12/racial-wealth- gaps-great-recession/.
4 mark lino, usda, expendiTures on children By families: 2013 14 (Aug. 2014), available at http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/ sites/default/files/expenditures_on_children_by_families/crc2013.pdf.
5 Id. at 26.
Reproductive Rights and Women’s Equality