Zeno's Bar & Grill
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Crime Wave in 2020?
Abortion rates are falling according to the Guttmacher Institute in New York and a recent federal study released by the National Center for Health Statistics. Women surveyed in 2002 said that 14% of their births were unwanted at the time of conception, whereas in 1995 only 9% of women did. Now, the debate is over why. Pro-life organizations say it’s a shift to pro-life attitudes. Others argue it’s a result of reduced access to abortion.
One theory proposed by Steven Leavitt, the author of Freakonomics, may just be able to provide the answer, but we’ll have to wait until about 2020. In his controversial theory, he suggests that unwanted babies are more likely to become troubled teens, abuse drugs and commit crimes as adults. In his book he argues that a drop in crime in the 1990’s could be attributed to the Roe v. Wade decision twenty years earlier. Some parts of his research were recently questioned on technical grounds and others have raised the flags of religion and ethics, however Leavitt stands by the idea. So, we guess if there’s a crime wave in 2020, at least one economist will know why.
Other highlights from the federal report: Long term live-in relationships may be bad for marriage prospects. There was an increase in 2002 both in women who had never married (42% vs. 38% in 1995) and women who had lived with a man outside of marriage (50% vs. 41% in 1995).
--Melanie & Kelly
One theory proposed by Steven Leavitt, the author of Freakonomics, may just be able to provide the answer, but we’ll have to wait until about 2020. In his controversial theory, he suggests that unwanted babies are more likely to become troubled teens, abuse drugs and commit crimes as adults. In his book he argues that a drop in crime in the 1990’s could be attributed to the Roe v. Wade decision twenty years earlier. Some parts of his research were recently questioned on technical grounds and others have raised the flags of religion and ethics, however Leavitt stands by the idea. So, we guess if there’s a crime wave in 2020, at least one economist will know why.
Other highlights from the federal report: Long term live-in relationships may be bad for marriage prospects. There was an increase in 2002 both in women who had never married (42% vs. 38% in 1995) and women who had lived with a man outside of marriage (50% vs. 41% in 1995).
--Melanie & Kelly
