Guests and contributors on a Wednesday “Morning Joe” segment worried that too many women in post-Dobbs America will become mothers instead of working corporate jobs.
The segment lamented over a study showing the job market has more vacant positions in states with strict abortion bans since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022. It showed that companies who offered financial support for employees to obtain out-of-state abortions saw an eight percent increase in their job postings. It also found that female-dominated jobs saw a drop in satisfaction.
Svenya Godell, chief economist for job listing website Indeed, said corporations will see fewer applicants in states restricting abortion, especially if they refuse cover the cost of an employee’s out-of-state abortion.
“If you are offering jobs that perhaps located in more Democratic-leaning states, or offering these types of benefits, you are more likely to see an increase in job seekers, particularly if you’re trying to attract women or if you’re hiring for jobs that are heavily dominated by women,” she said. “You might have a tougher time, or you might receive fewer clicks if your job is located in a state that doesn’t offer these benefits, where you have many more restrictions in place.”
NBC News correspondent Morgan Radford said the lack of abortion access is also impacting low-income women because they will be less able to seek high paying jobs. (RELATED: ‘A Rapist’s Bill Of Rights’: Pro-Abortion Activists Won In Kansas And For Some Reason Joe Scarborough Is Still Super Upset)
In 2022, women of childbearing years — 25 to 34 years — had the highest labor force participation rate at 77 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A study by the Institute for Family Studies found that more women between the ages of 35 and 53 are likely to be happier if they have children. Nearly 30 percent of married women with children classified themselves as “very happy” and 24 percent of those without kids said the same, compared to only seven percent of unmarried, childless women. American women, on average, also report having fewer children than they want.
There were 32,000 fewer abortions in the U.S. in the first six months following the court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, according to an analysis conducted by the Society of Family Planning. In the thirteen red states that enforced trigger bans, abortion fell by more than 95 percent.