According to a survey from Pregnant Then Screwed, almost in in five women claim the cost of childcare was the main reason they chose to have an abortion.
The charity surveyed 1,630 women who have had an abortion in the last five years and found 60.5% said the cost of childcare influenced that decision, with 17.4% saying it was the main reason. These findings were higher for Black women, with 76% of Black women and 70% of mixed race women saying the cost of childcare had been a factor in their decision to have abortion. Meanwhile, three quarters of single parents said childcare costs were behind their decision.
One of the women surveyed by Pregnant Then Screwed told them: ‘I have found it heartbreaking that I have had to have an abortion primarily because we could not afford the cost of childcare. If I had continued my pregnancy of a much-wanted child, I would have had to quit my job to care for them. This would have meant we had to sell our home as one salary would not cover the bills, which would have been detrimental to my one child. The system is a shambles and it is so upsetting. It is horrendous that my husband and I are both professionals, yet we cannot afford a second child due to the first years of their life requiring childcare.’
In light of Roe v Wade, the subject of abortion has been in the news more than ever. On 24 June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned abortion rights cemented by Roe v Wade in 1973, leaving an estimated 36 million American women without access to abortion rights. According to the court, there is now no constitutional right to an abortion in the United States, and in some states abortion is illegal even in the event of rape or incest.
Speaking in Parliament on 28 June, Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger said he would ‘probably disagree’ with other MPs over the subsequent outcry sparked by Roe v Wade. ‘They think that women have an absolute right to bodily autonomy in this matter, whereas I think in the case of abortion that right is qualified by the fact that another body is involved. I don't understand why we are lecturing the United States on a judgment to return the power of decision over this political question to the states, to democratic decision-makers, rather than leaving it in the hands of the courts.’
His comments were met with much criticism and around 400 people protested in his Devizes community. In a new statement he said: ‘I do not wish to dictate what a woman should do with her own body, as has been claimed.’
Meanwhile, senior Conservative peer Lord Daniel Moylam labelled the overturning of Roe v Wade as ‘a great victory for US democracy’.
Of the new findings, Joeli Brearley, founder of Pregnant Then Screwed said: ‘Childcare costs are pushing families into poverty and forcing women to terminate wanted pregnancies. This is a crisis and the Government’s response has been wholly inadequate. The UK birth rate has hit a record low, a lack of births means a lack of future workers, which poses enormous challenges for our future economy. We know that birth rates are higher in countries that allow women to combine childcare and careers.'
The study follows the government’s announcement on 4 July 2022that it’s plans for making childcare cheaper for parents include making childminding easier to get into, driving awareness of old schemes like Tax-Free Childcare, and relaxing staff-child ratios, in a sector that’s already poorly paid, overworked, and struggling to retain staff. Campaigners, including Pregnant Then Screwed, called the plans ‘woefully inadequate.’ 'The UK has the most expensive childcare in the OECD as a proportion of women’s earnings, and the recent Government proposal to increase ratios will have little to no impact on costs, instead it will only serve to create a lower quality system, further deterring women from using our childcare provision, says Joeli. 'The MPs who have recently shown their disdain for women who terminate a pregnancy are doing little to fix the systems which force them to make this decision.’
Pregnant Then Screwed is asking parents to attend a national protest on the 29th of October where they will demand that the Government invests in good quality, affordable childcare for all children as well as committing to other family friendly policies.