Motives to seek abortion among women of different income levels in Serbia

Background

Worldwide, women consistently report a lack of finances as the main motive to terminate pregnancy. The purpose of this study was to explore the motives of seeking abortion among women of different income levels.

Methods

A total of 433 women who had an induced abortion from 2022 to 2024 at the Clinic for Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, were invited to participate in this study. Their responses were recorded in an anonymous questionnaire. Disposable monthly income was self-reported. A list of motives to end pregnancy was drawn from a previous qualitative study in the same population. Women were classified into tertiles of income per month: lower tertile (T1) – less that 833 Euros, middle tertile (T2) 833-1000 Euros and upper tertile (T3) above 1000 Euros.

Results

Women in the three tertiles of income differed in 3 out of examined 21 abortion motives: not having enough finances, having enough children and being afraid of losing their job. Women in the lower income tertile more often reported “not having enough money to raise the child” compared to women in the middle and upper tertile (T1 - 48.8% vs T2 - 42.1% and T3 -31.1%, p = 0.016). However, women in the upper tertile more often reported “having enough children” (T3 - 56.5% vs. T2 - 44.7% and T1 - 36.3%, p = 0.004) as well as being “afraid of losing their job due to pregnancy” (T3 - 13.2% vs. T2 - 4.4% and T1 - 8.3%, p = 0.036).

Conclusions

Women of different socio-economic background report not having enough of finances as a motive for induced abortion. Women in the lowest income group report this motive more often than those in the higher income groups. Nevertheless, women in the highest income group are more often afraid of job loss due to pregnancy than lower income groups.

Key messages

• Lack of finances perceived as the motive to seek abortion among women across all income groups, with the lowest income group being the most common

• Women in the highest income group were more often afraid of losing their job because of pregnancy compared to lower income groups