Correction: A previous version of this story contained an error in describing the nature of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe Vs. Wade in June. While the court’s decision struck down a constitutional right to an abortion, it did not abolish abortion nationwide.
Companies speaking up about abortion rights matters when it comes to retaining female talent.
In a new survey from the women’s investment platform Ellevest, 44% of women said they would leave their current job if their employer’s views on reproductive rights didn’t align with their own. That number jumped to 56% for millennial women, who are the largest generational cohort in the workforce. About one in three, or 35% of workers are millennials.
More than half of the nearly 2,500 respondents also said the Supreme Court decision abolishing women's constitutional right to an abortion impacted their financial mindset.
Many companies have promised to pay for travel costs for out of state abortion care. Those policies grew in number after the decision was handed down in June.
A Bloomberg analysis found that people who lived in states that had abortion bans on the books would have to travel an average of 556 miles to receive care after the Dobbs decision came down. Some of the bans in those states have since been challenged in court. Abortion is currently banned in 14 states. A six-week ban, which effectively bars abortion before many people know they’re pregnant, is also in effect in Georgia.
“Women’s financial health is currently the worst it’s been in the last five years,” said Ellevest Head Data Scientist Kate Sullivan in a press release. She pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation as key drivers of women’s financial insecurity, and added that the new abortion landscape “clouds” many women’s economic futures.
“No wonder consumer confidence has been falling, even as women return to the workforce,” Sullivan said.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.