placestats

Hours worked (PWT) vs. Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 102 countries, Hours worked (PWT) and Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion rise and fall together at r = +0.30 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). It holds up almost unchanged when only countries with similar income (GDP per person) are compared (r = +0.33, q = 0.028, allowing for the many pairs tested).

Comparing countries across the middle half of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion, 31.8% to 60.6% of unintended pregnancies, hours worked (PWT) is 145 hours per year higher at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 147 hours per year.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.299p = 0.002 · 102 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.331p = 0.001 · likely range [+0.14, +0.49]
p, allowing for regions0.125standard error 0.186 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.028across 18,622 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Hours worked (PWT) · hours per yearlink with income -0.40 · moderate
Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion · % of unintended pregnancieslink with income +0.12 · independent

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Hours worked (PWT) · hours per year →Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion · % of unintended pregnancies →1,3352,53419.7%86.1%Angola: 2,115 hours per year, 28.1% of unintended pregnanciesAlbania: 2,152 hours per year, 59.2% of unintended pregnanciesArgentina: 1,612 hours per year, 48.4% of unintended pregnanciesArmenia: 1,976 hours per year, 81.8% of unintended pregnanciesAustralia: 1,611 hours per year, 43.1% of unintended pregnanciesAzerbaijan: 1,791 hours per year, 77.6% of unintended pregnanciesBelgium: 1,593 hours per year, 37.1% of unintended pregnanciesBurkina Faso: 2,356 hours per year, 40.6% of unintended pregnanciesBangladesh: 2,383 hours per year, 60.1% of unintended pregnanciesBulgaria: 1,659 hours per year, 35.7% of unintended pregnanciesBosnia and Herzegovina: 2,122 hours per year, 57.3% of unintended pregnanciesBelarus: 1,875 hours per year, 56% of unintended pregnanciesBolivia: 1,968 hours per year, 36.3% of unintended pregnanciesBrazil: 1,994 hours per year, 48.4% of unintended pregnanciesBotswana: 2,258 hours per year, 32.2% of unintended pregnanciesCanada: 1,731 hours per year, 36.8% of unintended pregnanciesSwitzerland: 1,529 hours per year, 25.5% of unintended pregnanciesChile: 1,950 hours per year, 52.5% of unintended pregnanciesChina: 2,328 hours per year, 77.9% of unintended pregnanciesCote d'Ivoire: 2,103 hours per year, 36.7% of unintended pregnanciesCameroon: 2,181 hours per year, 40.7% of unintended pregnanciesCongo, Dem. Rep.: 1,841 hours per year, 27.9% of unintended pregnanciesCongo, Rep.: 2,534 hours per year, 42.6% of unintended pregnanciesColombia: 2,471 hours per year, 43.2% of unintended pregnanciesCosta Rica: 2,177 hours per year, 41% of unintended pregnanciesCzechia: 1,774 hours per year, 19.7% of unintended pregnanciesGermany: 1,335 hours per year, 27.1% of unintended pregnanciesDenmark: 1,380 hours per year, 38.9% of unintended pregnanciesDominican Republic: 2,072 hours per year, 44% of unintended pregnanciesEcuador: 1,594 hours per year, 35.1% of unintended pregnanciesSpain: 1,638 hours per year, 43.1% of unintended pregnanciesEstonia: 1,606 hours per year, 41.7% of unintended pregnanciesEthiopia: 1,599 hours per year, 31% of unintended pregnanciesFinland: 1,497 hours per year, 24.8% of unintended pregnanciesFrance: 1,487 hours per year, 49.5% of unintended pregnanciesGabon: 2,174 hours per year, 36.8% of unintended pregnanciesUnited Kingdom: 1,523 hours per year, 36.2% of unintended pregnanciesGeorgia: 1,932 hours per year, 86.1% of unintended pregnanciesGhana: 1,656 hours per year, 35.9% of unintended pregnanciesGreece: 1,893 hours per year, 45.8% of unintended pregnanciesGuatemala: 2,151 hours per year, 30.1% of unintended pregnanciesHong Kong SAR, China: 2,240 hours per year, 46.1% of unintended pregnanciesCroatia: 1,974 hours per year, 49.9% of unintended pregnanciesHungary: 1,668 hours per year, 49.4% of unintended pregnanciesIndonesia: 1,958 hours per year, 63% of unintended pregnanciesIndia: 2,383 hours per year, 77.1% of unintended pregnanciesIceland: 1,452 hours per year, 39.1% of unintended pregnanciesItaly: 1,701 hours per year, 67.1% of unintended pregnanciesJamaica: 1,963 hours per year, 43.9% of unintended pregnanciesJapan: 1,654 hours per year, 30.1% of unintended pregnanciesKazakhstan: 1,975 hours per year, 82.1% of unintended pregnanciesKenya: 2,035 hours per year, 38% of unintended pregnanciesKyrgyz Republic: 1,830 hours per year, 79.2% of unintended pregnanciesCambodia: 2,389 hours per year, 65.3% of unintended pregnanciesKorea, Rep.: 1,910 hours per year, 61.9% of unintended pregnanciesSri Lanka: 2,053 hours per year, 72.3% of unintended pregnanciesLithuania: 1,640 hours per year, 27.7% of unintended pregnanciesLatvia: 1,625 hours per year, 30.2% of unintended pregnanciesMoldova: 1,989 hours per year, 70.6% of unintended pregnanciesMadagascar: 1,799 hours per year, 62.8% of unintended pregnanciesMexico: 1,629 hours per year, 50.9% of unintended pregnanciesNorth Macedonia: 1,949 hours per year, 63.4% of unintended pregnanciesMali: 2,243 hours per year, 33.5% of unintended pregnanciesMyanmar: 2,197 hours per year, 74.2% of unintended pregnanciesMozambique: 1,507 hours per year, 46.7% of unintended pregnanciesMalawi: 1,596 hours per year, 27.4% of unintended pregnanciesNamibia: 2,184 hours per year, 27.9% of unintended pregnanciesNiger: 2,069 hours per year, 31.3% of unintended pregnanciesNigeria: 2,062 hours per year, 48.2% of unintended pregnanciesNetherlands: 1,439 hours per year, 40.8% of unintended pregnanciesNorway: 1,412 hours per year, 31.7% of unintended pregnanciesNew Zealand: 1,708 hours per year, 29.3% of unintended pregnanciesPakistan: 2,471 hours per year, 60.9% of unintended pregnanciesPeru: 2,143 hours per year, 47.5% of unintended pregnanciesPhilippines: 2,096 hours per year, 50.5% of unintended pregnanciesPoland: 1,807 hours per year, 36.6% of unintended pregnanciesPortugal: 1,735 hours per year, 32.4% of unintended pregnanciesParaguay: 2,123 hours per year, 51% of unintended pregnanciesRomania: 1,826 hours per year, 71.2% of unintended pregnanciesRussian Federation: 2,087 hours per year, 71.8% of unintended pregnanciesRwanda: 1,584 hours per year, 28.7% of unintended pregnanciesSenegal: 2,335 hours per year, 25.1% of unintended pregnanciesSingapore: 2,283 hours per year, 27.5% of unintended pregnanciesSerbia: 1,995 hours per year, 60.8% of unintended pregnanciesSlovak Republic: 1,621 hours per year, 26.2% of unintended pregnanciesSlovenia: 1,588 hours per year, 24.4% of unintended pregnanciesSweden: 1,432 hours per year, 48.3% of unintended pregnanciesChad: 1,585 hours per year, 29.5% of unintended pregnanciesThailand: 2,177 hours per year, 64.4% of unintended pregnanciesTajikistan: 2,134 hours per year, 71% of unintended pregnanciesTurkmenistan: 2,179 hours per year, 83.4% of unintended pregnanciesTrinidad and Tobago: 1,610 hours per year, 58% of unintended pregnanciesTanzania: 2,129 hours per year, 35.9% of unintended pregnanciesUganda: 2,128 hours per year, 29.7% of unintended pregnanciesUkraine: 2,045 hours per year, 75.9% of unintended pregnanciesUruguay: 1,481 hours per year, 27.6% of unintended pregnanciesUnited States: 1,789 hours per year, 34.2% of unintended pregnanciesUzbekistan: 2,099 hours per year, 80.2% of unintended pregnanciesViet Nam: 2,160 hours per year, 74.5% of unintended pregnanciesSouth Africa: 2,181 hours per year, 36.6% of unintended pregnanciesZambia: 2,200 hours per year, 28.2% of unintended pregnanciesZimbabwe: 2,311 hours per year, 24.8% of unintended pregnanciesAZECHNDEUFINGEOINDKGZNORSENSGPTKMZWE

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.2990.002102
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.2690.006102
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.3310.001102
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.2840.004102

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 102 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: -0.031 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.310 (without CHN) to +0.367 (without SGP). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: SGP (+0.037).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific13+0.42
Europe & Central Asia42+0.42
Latin America & Caribbean15+0.14
Sub-Saharan Africa26-0.02

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third34+0.09
Middle third34+0.17
Richest third34+0.32

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians69+0.22
Muslims18-0.06

By last European coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France12-0.07
Never a European colony13+0.62
Spain13+0.25
United Kingdom23+0.24

By official ideology

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Nationalist18+0.23
No strong official ideology73+0.23

By party system

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
A few parties banned14+0.26
No parties banned80+0.21

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.331 after dropping 0 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 0years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Not enough history inside each country to look at this over time. That needs countries measured for several years in a row, and at least one of these measures is measured too rarely.

The data


hours per year
% of unintended pregnancies		Years
Congo, Rep. COG2,53442.6%2023, 2019
Pakistan PAK2,47160.9%2023, 2019
Colombia COL2,47143.2%2023, 2019
Cambodia KHM2,38965.3%2023, 2019
Bangladesh BGD2,38360.1%2023, 2019
India IND2,38377.1%2023, 2019
Burkina Faso BFA2,35640.6%2023, 2019
Senegal SEN2,33525.1%2023, 2019
China CHN2,32877.9%2023, 2019
Zimbabwe ZWE2,31124.8%2023, 2019
Singapore SGP2,28327.5%2023, 2019
Botswana BWA2,25832.2%2023, 2019
Mali MLI2,24333.5%2023, 2019
Hong Kong SAR, China HKG2,24046.1%2023, 2019
Zambia ZMB2,20028.2%2023, 2019

Feenstra, Robert C., Robert Inklaar and Marcel P. Timmer (2015), "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table", American Economic Review, 105(10), 3150-3182, www.ggdc.net/pwt. Data: Penn World Table version 11.0, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, doi:10.34894/FABVLR.
Bearak, J. M., Popinchalk, A., Beavin, C. et al. (2022), 'Country-specific estimates of unintended pregnancy and abortion incidence: a global comparative analysis of levels in 2015-2019', BMJ Global Health 7(3), e007151. Guttmacher Institute. Supplementary appendix, tables A3-A5.

Sources

Hours worked (PWT)

Average annual hours worked per person engaged (Penn World Table)

Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen · via DataverseNL · CC BY 4.0 · updated irregular (new versions every few years)

Hours actually worked in a year, averaged over everyone with a job, including the self-employed and part-timers. It measures the same thing as the OECD hours measure, and for countries in both the two mostly agree. This one is kept because it reaches much further: about 130 countries each year from 2010 to 2023, where the OECD series has 38 countries and stops in 2016. Before 2000 it covers mainly rich countries. No "better" direction is set.

Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion

Share of unintended pregnancies ending in abortion (model estimate, 2015-2019)

Guttmacher Institute (Bearak et al. 2022, BMJ Global Health) · CC BY-NC 4.0 · updated one edition (2015-2019 estimates, published 2022)

Of the unintended pregnancies in the abortion rate's model, the share that ended in abortion, averaged over 2015-2019 (Guttmacher Institute). The rest ended in a birth or a miscarriage. Like the other two, it is an estimate with a range. No "better" direction is set.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2019–2023. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 18,622 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated V-Dem v16; V-Party v2. How the country data works · explore Hours worked (PWT) and Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Hours worked (PWT) changes Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Hours worked (PWT) or Unintended pregnancies ending in abortion