More than $140 Billion in Lost Earnings: Abortion Restrictions Continue to Harm Women and Are a Persistent Drag on the Economy

Even years after the initial wave of post-Dobbs abortion bans and restrictions, the harms continue to accumulate—for women, families, communities, and the broader economy. The economic losses associated with restrictive abortion policies that IWPR has documented were never temporary shocks or short-term disruptions. Abortion restrictions are a reproductive justice and human rights issue that imposes deep, sustained economic harm year after year, with women—especially Black and Latina women—bearing the greatest burden. As the labor market continues to slow, policies that increasingly force women onto unstable ground ultimately weaken the entire economy.

IWPR’s latest estimates show that states with the most restrictive abortion policies could cost the national economy nearly $68 billion annually in lost earnings, up from $64 billion in last year’s estimate (see Methodology section). Historically, legal abortion access has increased women’s labor force participation and earnings.¹ IWPR’s analyses suggest that abortion restrictions continue to erode those gains nationwide, reducing women’s labor force participation and earnings potential while weakening state and national economies in the process. Those losses—amounting to billions of dollars—could otherwise support what families actually need: affordable health care, caregiving, higher wages, business growth, and new jobs that strengthen local communities and state economies

This $68 billion estimate reflects only the impact of the most severe restrictions, including total bans and six-week gestational bans, that were in effect in 16 states in 2025.² Many other states may not have banned abortion outright, but still impose barriers that make abortion care harder to access, like waiting periods, mandated counseling, or targeted regulations on abortion providers that delay or deny care altogether. When accounting for all state-level restrictions on abortion access, combined with the federal funding prohibitions and the absence of federal protections, the annual average economic cost now exceeds $140 billion nationwide (Table 1). That is nearly $7 billion more than what IWPR estimated last year.

These economic losses are not abstract. They reflect the real-world effects of policies that make it harder for women to stay in school, remain in the workforce, earn higher wages, and plan for their families and futures.³ That $7 billion, for example, could fund Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for about one million American families with children for an entire year. This is a striking figure considering the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill’s” cuts to the program, which are projected to reduce or eliminate benefits for many low-income households.⁴

At a moment when the US economy is already facing weaknesses in women’s labor force participation, which remains below pre-pandemic levels and still has not returned to its historic peak of 60.3 percent reached in April 2000, abortion restrictions are moving the economy in the wrong direction while also limiting women’s reproductive and economic freedom.⁵ Labor force participation among women ages 15 to 44, for example, could be significantly higher if these policies were not in place. Nationwide, removing barriers to reproductive health care could mean nearly 325,000 more women participating in the labor force each year, with the largest increases concentrated in states with some of the most restrictive abortion policies. In Alabama, Kentucky, and Louisiana, women’s labor force participation would potentially be over 1.3 percent higher without these restrictions. In Mississippi, it would be 1.5 percent higher—the largest estimated increase in the country (Map 1 and Table 1).

Greater labor force participation and higher earnings would not only improve economic security for women and families but also would strengthen the broader economy. National gross domestic product (GDP) could rise by 0.5 percent, and the economic gains would be largest in states such as Alabama, Arkansas, South Carolina, and West Virginia, which rank poorly on both abortion protections and per capita GDP.⁶ These states could potentially see their GDP grow by nearly 1 percent annually (Map 1 and Table 1).

Racial Inequities in the Economic Impacts of Abortion Restrictions

Black and Latina women are more likely to experience the consequences of restrictive abortion policies and confront additional economic and structural barriers to accessing care that their White counterparts do not—even as abortion restrictions harm all women and the economy more broadly.⁷ According to IWPR’s analysis (Table 2):

• Earnings losses are largest for Black women ages 15 to 44, at an estimated 9.9 percent, compared to 8.7 percent for White women in this age group.
• Labor force losses are higher for Black and Latina women ages 15 to 44 (0.8 percent for each) than for any other group.

Conclusion

The evidence is clear: Abortion restrictions threaten both reproductive and economic justice by jeopardizing women’s ability to plan for their families and futures as well as to fully participate in the workforce and build economic security.

They are a persistent drag on the economy and will continue to be until access to abortion is protected at the state level and nationwide. As long as these restrictions are in place, layered on top of prohibitions on federal funding and the absence of federal protections, the economy will continue to absorb annual economic losses as women are pushed out of or held back in the labor force, limiting their earnings, career growth, and overall economic participation. In a labor market that is stagnating, with weaker job growth each month and persistent inflation further constraining opportunities for women, abortion restrictions risk deepening the economic slowdown and increasing the costs to families and employers alike.

Methodology

The results presented in this analysis reflect the most recent estimates from IWPR’s “Cost of Reproductive Health Restrictions” model. As in our prior years’ analyses, this study seeks to answer the question: What are the economic costs of abortion restrictions at the state level?

This analysis relies on population-level macroeconomic analysis, drawing on three years of data (2023–2025) from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Current Population Survey (CPS). All dollar amounts are inflation-adjusted and reported in constant 2025 dollars.

Our key independent variable is the severity of state-level abortion policies, ranging from “most protective” to “most restrictive” based on the Guttmacher Institute’s seven-tier classification system presented in “Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe” (as of December 2025). Each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia was assigned a value from 1 to 7, with 1 representing “most protective” and 7 representing “most restrictive.” As of December 2025, 16 states fell into the “most restrictive” category, while four were classified as “most protective.”

Using these sources of data, we estimate the effects of state-level abortion restrictions on labor force participation among women ages 15 to 44, and we assess the impact of these policies on the earnings of employed women in this same age group working in the private sector.

This fact sheet, including data analysis, was prepared by Dr. Melissa Holly Mahoney and Dr. Aashima Sinha, with additional support from Dr. Kate Bahn, Jesseca Boyer, and Emily Maistrellis. The analysis draws on a model previously developed by Dr. Jeff Hayes and Dr. Martha Susana Jaimes. Thank you to our key funders for their generous support of IWPR’s core research and flagship products.