| Women who have unplanned pregnancies are often in poorer health before the pregnancy and are less likely to avail themselves of prenatal care (Brown & Eisenberg, 1995); these circumstances can have negative consequences for life outcomes of the child. In fact, unintended pregnancy has been found to be associated with low birthweight, infant mortality, a lowered likelihood of obtaining immunizations during early childhood, and poor child health (Moore, Manlove et al., 1997). Children who are the result of an unintended pregnancy also have been found to have lower levels of positive emotional expression at age two, and delayed verbal abilities during the preschool years (Moore, Manlove et al., 1997). These children are also at a greater risk for abuse and neglect (Zuravin, 1991). An analysis of a nationally representative sample of families (the National Survey of Families and Households, NSFH) found that mothers with unwanted births spent less time with their children and were more likely to spank or slap their children than mothers with wanted births (Barber, Axinn, & Thornton, 1999). Furthermore, the same researchers found that, among a second national sample of mother-child pairs followed over 30 years (the Intergenerational Panel Study of Mothers and Children), mothers with unwanted births had lower quality relationships not only with the unwanted child, but also with the rest of the children in the family (Barber et al., 1999). Other researchers estimating sibling fixed-effects models find that most of the negative outcomes reflect characteristics of the women who have unintended births (Joyce, Kaestner, & Korenman, 1997). |
