Labour force participation and the likelihood of abortion in Finland over three birth cohorts

There is a lack of studies on the association between labour force participation and abortion. This study examined how the likelihood of having an abortion depends on being employed, unemployed, student or outside the workforce using Finnish register data from three birth cohorts (born in 1955-59, 1965-69 and 1975-79) of nearly 260,000 women. The results differed depending on whether all women or only pregnant women were studied and on the cohort analysed. Unemployed women had a high likelihood of abortion when all women were studied, but among pregnant women students had the highest likelihood. The direction and strength of the association varied by relationship status, age, and parity. The results show that the likelihood of abortion depends on women’s economic position. More studies on contraceptive use and pregnancy intentions in Finland are needed to identify the mechanisms behind these findings.