A while back I had a discussion with an acquaintance of mine about what he thought was the single best poverty-alleviating measure in the history of the United States. He was a labor organizer, so I shouldn't have been surprised that he said without hesitation that unions were far and away the most important development in that respect. And probably because he was a he, and consequently he'd never had to make diligently remaining NotPregnant a big part of his adult life, he was pretty surprised when I said I suspected readily available family planning information and supplies had had an even bigger effect on the American family's ability to get ahead and stay afloat financially than the labor movement. After all, what good is making the pie bigger if it can't keep pace with the number of people eating it? The ability to decide whether and when to have children is not just a feminist issue, it is also a financial issue. In some families both here and around the world, access to information and contraceptives may be a question of financial survival. Even in my rather comfortable corner of the world, these resources have been key to planning for my future and taking control of my own economic independence.
For all of you who thought you'd never see the day when Roe v. Wade would be commemorated on a personal finance blog, think about it. Roe, and the cases that came before and after it involving contraception access, have ensured in this country a woman's right to control when they have children, or whether they have them at all. That decision is not just about childbearing, it's about a woman's ability to complete her education or to stay in the workforce, to earn a wage, to avoid economic dependence on or permanent and unwanted legal ties to any partner, to avoid substantial medical risks and the attendant healthcare costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood, to provide adequately for the family she already has or hopes to have someday. Think about that the next time you are standing in line at the pharmacy to pick up your birth control prescription.
On a day-to-day basis, I take my ability to control my fertility for granted. I assume that because I do not consider myself ready to have a child that *poof!* I will not have a child. I had accurate, comprehensive sex education years before I ever had sex. I have never had sex without using at least one form of safe and effective birth control, which I have always been able to obtain for a price I was readily able to pay. I have never had an unplanned pregnancy. Because of when and where I was born, if I had unexpectedly found myself pregnant I would have had options about what to do. Once I'm married, my husband and I will be able to wait to have children until we decide our relationship and our finances are strong enough to take on those new responsibilities. In each and every one of these respects I have been spectacularly fortunate, because those are resources not every woman has, and choices not every woman gets to make. And that's just not right. Women who can't control their reproductive life can't control their economic life.
For all of you who thought you'd never see the day when Roe v. Wade would be commemorated on a personal finance blog, think about it. Roe, and the cases that came before and after it involving contraception access, have ensured in this country a woman's right to control when they have children, or whether they have them at all. That decision is not just about childbearing, it's about a woman's ability to complete her education or to stay in the workforce, to earn a wage, to avoid economic dependence on or permanent and unwanted legal ties to any partner, to avoid substantial medical risks and the attendant healthcare costs of pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood, to provide adequately for the family she already has or hopes to have someday. Think about that the next time you are standing in line at the pharmacy to pick up your birth control prescription.
On a day-to-day basis, I take my ability to control my fertility for granted. I assume that because I do not consider myself ready to have a child that *poof!* I will not have a child. I had accurate, comprehensive sex education years before I ever had sex. I have never had sex without using at least one form of safe and effective birth control, which I have always been able to obtain for a price I was readily able to pay. I have never had an unplanned pregnancy. Because of when and where I was born, if I had unexpectedly found myself pregnant I would have had options about what to do. Once I'm married, my husband and I will be able to wait to have children until we decide our relationship and our finances are strong enough to take on those new responsibilities. In each and every one of these respects I have been spectacularly fortunate, because those are resources not every woman has, and choices not every woman gets to make. And that's just not right. Women who can't control their reproductive life can't control their economic life.
6 comments:
I think you make a good point in noting the impact that an additional wage earner can have on the financial well being of a family and that contraception and education have gone a long way in helping families and individuals decide when is the right time for them to leave the work force and have children, but I also think that considering abortion as a method of birth control, and especially seeing abortion as a money saving technique, may need some additional thought. Though I disagree with you on this point, I appreciate your point of view.
Steward: as politely as you put it, you're wrong in your assumption that our esteemed blogger should consider "additional thought" to whether abortion should be an option. It is a last-resort birth control, and if you have read Freakonomics, it keeps women (and their possible other children) out of poverty. What "additional thought" could you mean? Women have a right to bodily autonomy and the choice for when to become -- and remain-- pregnant. If you disagree: perhaps you have a kidney you'd like to be forced to donate? (And in this case, be forced to pay for the associated medical bills -- having a kid costs ~$180,000 to raise in a middle-class lifestyle to 18.)
@ anonymous - The main reason I suggested that the view that abortion is a valid means of birth control should be reconsidered rests upon my commitment that a fetus is a human being from a very early stage. So, in my view of the world, it seems very sad to end someone's life because it is inconvenient or ends up costing money.
The issue to me is not over the autonomy of a woman's body. I feel like I absolutely hold to the notion that a woman's body is autonomous and her own personal, irrevocable possession. I think that the case of pregnancy is very unique in that I see a fetus both as a unique person and while at the same time being completely dependent upon the care and nutrients supplied by his mother. The issue revolves around the life of what I consider to be a human person, just like you and I.
If a pregnant woman were to be murdered, I would want the criminal to be tried on the charge of double homicide.
Hello!
I LOVE YOUR BLOG. The ONLY reason I have not read every single entry so far is that I do not want it end! Thank you for putting into words a lot of my thoughts, feelings, and curiousities. I wanted to ask if you could kindly make any book recommendations? Anything out there you found to be profound or moving or essential to your views on life issues? I understand if you are too busy or just don't want to comment back. But thank you for even reading this!!! Have a great Wedding!
-Patty
Thanks, Patty! Let's see... book recommendations. For money-related books, two I've been thinking on lately are The Two Income Trap The Price Of Motherhood. For fiction, my long-time favorite is Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. For non-fiction, check out Random Family (finance and social class related, showing that even when I'm not thinking about money I'm thinking about money, I suppose).
Thank you so much!
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