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.
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
Teen pregnancy is a huge issue and babies of teen moms are more likely to live in poverty and also end up as teen moms. A lot of times teenagers are unaware of the risks and difficulties that are associated with having a baby and being pregnant. I think this is why it is so important the schools to have comprehensive sexual education and for parents to have an active role in their teenage children’s sexual education. I also believe that it is critical for parents to know the people their kids hang out with and the activities that they are participating in.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to see this self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and lack of education, and how these determinants affect the health of these populations over the course of their life. The same kind of trend happens with violence and drug use. Fathers will be involved in crime and drugs and be thrown into jail or, worse, even killed in a conflict, leaving his children to grow up in a one parent home where the mother is strapped for time working 2 jobs and has little energy to properly rear children when not at work. These children are likely to fill the role of their father in their own families as adults. So much of what we become as adults is influenced by our parents and the decisions they make. It certainly is a difficult problem to address. When these problems occur concomitantly, it is easy to see how so many people in the richest country on earth still live in poverty. I think, perhaps, we often take for granted the families we grew up in. I know that I would not be the person I am today had it not been for my Mom and Dad.
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