The Cost of Unintended Pregnancies

Did you ever wonder how much it costs the United States each year as a result of unintended pregnancies? According to 2 studies by the Guttmacher Institute and the Brookings Institution taxpayers shell out approximately $11 billion each year.

This estimate is considered conservative due to the fact that they only include pubilc insurance costs for pregnancy and first-year infant care. Both studies reached the same conclusion: the United States pubilc would save a significant amount of money by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies were decreased.

Study #1: The Public Costs of Births Resulting from Unintended Pregnancies: National and State-Level Estimates by Adam Sonfield and colleagues at Guttmacher.

In this study, state-level data was taken from 2006 to estimate the costs per state, then added together to create one cumulative sum for the nation. Through this study it was discovered that 2/3 of births resulting from unintended pregnancies (i.e. more than 1 million births) are publicly funded, and that proportion is 80% in some states. If women had all the health services available to them and their reproductive rights were honored, approximately $11.1 billion would be saved.

If Republicans are looking to cut money and save, how about we look here? Or better yet, why don't YOU pay that $11.1 billion if you're so concerned about this 'moral dilemma?' “Investing in publicly funded family planning to help women avoid unintended pregnancy has a proven track record: In the absence of the services provided at publicly funded family planning centers, the costs of unintended pregnancy would be 60% higher than they are today.”

Study #2: Unintended Pregnancy and Taxpayer Spending by Emily Monea and Adam Thomas

Through this study, Monea and Thomas estimated the cost of unintended pregnancy by counting 2001 national estimates of the outcomes of publicly financed unintended pregnancies (births, abortions, miscarriages and need for infant medical care) and multiplying those counts by the average cost per outcome." The costs estimated for these women and the infants born as a result of unintended pregnancies fell between $9.6 and $12.6 billion dollars, averaging $11.3 million. If these unintended pregnancies were prevented, pubilc savings would fall between $4.7 billion and $6.2 billion, averaging $5.6 billion. "Policymakers should protect and even increase investments in such proven cost-saving strategies as publicly subsidized family planning services and evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention programs.”

There was also third study highlighted that describes some of the rates of unintended pregnancies by state. It comes as no surprise that the highest rates of unintended pregnancies were found in states with large urban area (which equal more people and more probability that it will happen) and South and Southwest states where, based on my research, sex education is not stressed.


If you are just beginning to read my blog, here is the first post that briefly describes the purpose.