In honor of Equal Pay Day last Tuesday, let’s look at how reproductive rights are linked to financial ability. Most people have heard the statistic that women make $0.76 for every $1.00 that white men make. But that figure only represents white women, who typically make noticeably more than women of color. Black women make $0.62 for every dollar a white man makes and Hispanic women only make $0.54 for every white man’s dollar. The wage gap is an important issue, but that’s not the only way employers can influence a person’s finances.
In the U.S., the company you work for can decide whether or not your insurance plan will cover birth control. If the company claims it is against its religious beliefs to cover contraception, it is under no legal obligation to do so. That will generally have one of two outcomes for the employees that need birth control. One option is that the person will be forced to pay out of pocket, which can be a significant financial hardship. Birth control pills, for example, can cost up to $600 a year. The other potential outcome would be that the person can’t afford to pay for birth control themselves and just may not have access to contraception. This can make it very difficult to control if and when a pregnancy occurs. Any pregnancy is a huge financial undertaking, but an unplanned pregnancy can create even greater financial hardships. How can anyone who can’t afford to pay for birth control out of pocket be expected to pay for an abortion or raise a child? The burden of paying for birth control or being forced to figure out how to pay for an abortion or raising a child will fall disproportionately on those already negatively affected by the wage gap.
The U.S. is the only developed country in the world that doesn’t guarantee paid maternity leave. This may be a barrier preventing people who want to have a baby from doing so if they can’t afford to take the necessary time off work. But it can be disastrous for someone who encounters an unplanned pregnancy. If a person becomes pregnant and their partner is unable or unwilling to contribute financially, not having paid maternity leave could be a huge problem. Having to take unpaid time off can create huge financial problems, and it may even force the mother to go back to work earlier than is healthy for her or the baby, just to have enough money to survive.
An employer in the U.S. can refuse to provide insurance coverage for birth control and abortion, and any kind of paid maternity leave. Given the financial
