Teenage pregnancy is a known global factor that leads to lower health outcomes and a decline in general well-being. As more young teenagers become sexually active, teenage pregnancy rates continue to rise in areas with high poverty rates (4). There is a direct correlation between dropping out of school, poverty, and teenage pregnancy (6). Nonprofit organizations like the Alan Guttmacher Institute (1) that focus on sexual and reproductive health research continue to prove that teenage pregnancy has negative consequences for the parents, the child, and the community. The economic and social costs risks delayed emotional development, high stress, abusive environments, and of the loss of life opportunities for both the mother and the child. The mother’s ability to pursue educational opportunities decline after having a child, leading to lower wages/less overall earning power, and a life of poverty and living off welfare (2).
Young women living in areas with high poverty rates are five times more likely to become pregnant than those living in higher income neighborhoods. (5). Generally, young women living in poverty are more likely to participate in high risk behaviors (drug use, unprotected sex, etc.), exposed to domestic violence, and have greater chance of being incarcerated sometime during their adolescence (2). Teenage pregnancy crosses childhood and adolescence, forcing teenage mothers into a world of adult responsibilities. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, “Many pregnant teenagers have not yet accomplished basic developmental tasks of establishing identity, developing the capacity of intimate relationships, meeting educational and career objectives, achieving economic independence, and developing self-esteem”. It is reasonable to determine that young mothers are more likely to continue to live in poverty and rely on government assistance.
Teenage pregnancy effects multiple aspects of the woman’s social environment. Studies support that the younger sisters of teen mothers were less likely to understand the importance of education and employment and more likely to engage in sexual activity and become pregnant themselves. Younger brothers were found to be more tolerant of non-marital and early births, in addition to being more susceptible to high-risk behaviors (1). The financial and psychological strain placed upon the family of the teenage mother also can lead to a breakdown of the family unit as a whole. Teen pregnancy accounts for more than $9 billion per year in costs to U.S. taxpayers for increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers (2). However, the health costs of teenage pregnancy are expected to change as the Affordable Care Act is implemented.
Pregnancy awareness campaigns like those conducted by the CDC and AGI have greatly helped reduce the number of teenage pregnancies overall in recent years, but not so in low-income areas like those in New York, Illinois, and Florida, where teenage pregnancy rates are the highest. Teenage mothers are less likely to complete high school, retain a stable income throughout their life time, and become independent of outside sources of income. The children born from teenage pregnancies are 27% more likely to become teenage parents themselves and continue to increase the number of people dependent upon government assistance (3). It is important that health professionals address related risk behaviors and increase the awareness of sexual health responsibility. As the average age of being sexually active continues to fall, health campaigns must begin to target youth at lower levels of education, rather than at the standard high school levels.
(1) Alan Guttmacher Institute (2012). Facts on Unintended Pregnancy in the United States. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-Unintended-Pregnancy-US.html
(2) Division of Reproductive Health (2011). National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion: Teen Pregnancy in the United States, http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/AboutTeenPreg.htm
(3) Finer, L.B., & Henshaw, S.K. (2006) Disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States,1994 and 2001, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 38(2):90–96.
(4) Moore, K. (2008). Teen Births: Examining the Recent Increase, Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/PreventTeenPreg.htm
(5) Santelli, J. S. (2007). Explaining recent declines in adolescent pregnancy in the United States: The contribution of abstinence and improved contraceptive use. American Journal of Public Health, 97(1):150–156.
(6) Wolfe, B., and Perozek, M. (1997). Teen children’s health and health care use In Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy. R. A. Maynard (Ed.). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press