Teenage pregnancy

"You need only do three things to avoid poverty in this country: finish high school, marry before having a child, and produce the child after the age of twenty. Only 8% of families who do this are poor; 79% of those who fail to do this are poor" as pointed out by James Wilson a political scientist. Adolescent mothers (and fathers) are less likely to finish high school and are more likely to live in poverty and rely on public assistance than those who delay childbearing. Three quarters of births to adolescents are to unmarried parents. It has been estimated that the total cost to society of adolescent childbearing is 37 billion dollars a year. This number takes into account both the actual costs of adolescent childbearing and the lost income to adolescent parents. Clearly there is great need to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

The United States has one of the highest birth rates to teenagers in the industrialized countries: four times higher than Germany, eight times higher than the Netherlands. In 1999 the birthrate to adolescent females (ages 15-19) was 49.6 births per 1000 adolescent females, thus 475,740 babies were born to adolescent mothers. This number does not include the pregnancies that resulted in miscarriage (approximately 20% of all pregnancies) or were ended by abortion (estimated to be 35% of all teenage pregnancies in 1996). Fortunately there has been a steady decline in the teen birth rate; by 3 percent between 1998 and 1999 and by 20% since 1991.

The decrease in teen births has occurred because of a decrease in sexual activity amongst teens, an increase in the use of condoms and the availability of effective, long-acting contraception. Although these statistics are encouraging parents should keep in mind that 32% of girls in ninth grade have had sexual intercourse. The number of girls who have had sex increases to 66% by 12^th grade. Although the use of condoms by adolescents has been increasing, from 46% in 1991 to 58% in 1999, this still leaves a sizeable number of teens susceptible to both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Teenagers are bombarded with sexual messages from movies, television, music and magazines. Promiscuous sexual behavior is often portrayed as the norm. Rarely are there messages about the consequences of sexual behavior. It is important that families and social organizations try to counteract some of these messages. Setting limits for teenagers, discussing your personal beliefs about sexuality and teaching teenagers how to avoid risky situations can all help delay the onset of sexual activity. Rather than "just say no" it is more effective to give specific examples of how to act in a given situation. Role playing is a very effective tool for teenagers.

Some parents are uncomfortable talking about sex with their children. Sometimes this can be overcome with practice, if not, enlisting the aid of other adults or written material can be useful. Parents should not assume that their children have not thought about sexual activity because they are "too young" or "good kids." If adolescents have decided to become sexually active despite efforts of family and social organizations they need to protect themselves against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Condom use along with other effective contraceptive methods should be used consistently.

Most adults recognize the social and economic benefits of delaying the initiation of sexual intercourse and ultimately preventing teenage pregnancy. Clearly there are disadvantages to becoming a parent before reaching physical and emotional maturity.

The economic disadvantage to an adolescent parent may be impossible to overcome. Decreasing the teenage pregnancy rate will go a long way toward decreasing poverty rates in this country. The more difficult task is to figure out the best way this can be accomplished.