Jonathan Gruber on abortion as a poverty tool

http://www.nber.org/papers/w6034.pdf

The 1996 welfare reform, signed by Clinton, pushed by Republicans, and decried by the liberal media, sort of coincides with falling abortion rates.  Gruber speculated in 1997 that an aborted child was better off than a child living in poverty—at least for the taxpayer.  I think improving the lives of single moms is a better plan.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41917.pdf  This report is a good summary of pre- and post-welfare reform programs.

A dramatic transformation in single mothers’ welfare, work, and poverty status has occurred over
the 27-year period examined in this report. The period has seen a marked structural change in the
provision of benefits under a number of programs that contribute to the fabric of the nation’s
“income safety net.” In turn, single mothers’ behavior has changed markedly over the period, in
part a response to structural changes to income “safety net” programs, with more mothers
working and fewer relying on cash welfare to support themselves and their children in the postwelfare
reform era.