Causes And Consequences Of Teen Pregnancy

Teen pregnancy is an issue in United States, it is one issue that should wait until teens are married and know what they are doing with their lives. This issue came about in the early in the 1950’s – 1960’s. Teen pregnancy is a teenage girl between the ages 13-19 (girls who haven’t reached adulthood) having unwanted or wanted babies. Janet Bode once stated in her book, “Emotions run everywhere, scared, sad, disappointment and preparation for what is about to happen” (Bode 51). If we do not act now, teen pregnancy will be out the roof. Teen pregnancy needs a stop put to it no matter what, teens are still children themselves and they are still learning how to take care of themselves:

Teenage pregnancy may not be one of the bigger issues of the world, like war or drug abuse, but it still holds credibility. It also does not have a high declining rate. All of the world teenagers still get pregnant, whether it be by a small or high percentage, and the government has no way to stop it. However, the government can control what happens afterwards, when the baby is born. Obviously, teens would have trouble in raising a baby on their own because they are not yet adults so they need both financial and supportive help. So the government created Acts to help and states carried out assistance programs as well. However, there has been controversy in whether or not teenage mothers deserve all of this help. Teenage mothers should be

There are long term negative effects on the teen parent which carries over long after the baby is born. Teen mothers are less likely to finish high school than their peers who are not mothers (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). Adolescent parents are often poor relying on social services and many times as adults they are unemployed or underemployed (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). The families who are affected by this social issue take on the responsibilities to try to overcome the negatives. However the families are now dealing

Teenage pregnancy is linked to many critical social issues, such as poverty, lack of education, out-of-wedlock births, health issues, education, child welfare, and overall child well-being. These issues have been a social problem for decades, but it wasn’t until recent years when it emerged from being social invisibility to becoming an urgent crisis. “In 1995, in his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton singled out teenage

According to the CDC, nearly 1 million babies are born to teens every year. They report that this results in nearly ten million dollars of tax payer money spent on associated costs like public healthcare, child welfare, and incarcerations. In Georgia alone, the report shows that teen pregnancy now cost nearly 400 million. Considering ---------‘s information that eighty percent of teen mothers will be dependent on welfare for at least some part of their life, the amount needed from taxpayers could easily skyrocket simply due to a public opinion of a private issue such as birth control. With an already burgeoning national debt and slashed state systems, how can it be reasonable to cast these devastating imminent effects upon society with mandatory parental consent?

Then, following connecting the causes and responses to teenage pregnancy and parenthood, the validity and effectiveness of the policy responses will be assessed. Successes and shortcomings will be considered, along with suggestions as to what policy and structural changes would be more advantageous. Finally, this paper will conclude that teen pregnancy is a structural issue not individual one, if it can even be considered an issue at all. Policy changes alone will not be sufficient, as social and economic disadvantage does not go away if one doesn’t get pregnant. Instead, it involves targeting societal values at their root, which is not socially or economically as simple as just introducing reports and growing a social panic largely against those who already face many obstacles.

In the United States teenage pregnancy outside of marriage is labeled as a social problem. Society views young, poor, single teenage mothers as an liability and not an asset. Teenage mothers are stereotyped as (a) welfare dependent (b) irresponsible (c) lazy (d) ignorant and (e) promiscuous. However, the majority of society believes that their taxes were higher because of government benefits that teenage mothers and their babies receive.

Tax payers have to pay a small fortune every year because of costs associated with teen pregnancies. The American people had to cover $9.4 billion in expenses in 2010 ("About Teen Pregnancy"). High school dropout rates are obscenely high amongst teen mothers. Approximately 50% of women who give birth during adolescence will go on to graduate high school ("About Teen Pregnancy"). This causes the young mother to be at a higher risk for poverty and a lowers the amount of opportunities to be successful. Children being born into broken homes are more likely to follow in their parent’s footsteps. Students whose families aren’t intact are less likely to receive sexual education, and are more likely to have a teenage pregnancy (Kohler, et al. 347-48). Teenage pregnancy is a problem which compounds as it progresses unless it is controlled in an effective way. In this case, that is teaching at safe

Teen birth rates are higher in the United States than any other country. In 2010, over 600,000 teens were impregnated; however, in following years, the number was reduced by half (Werner, 2014). These statistics show a decline in teen pregnancy; nonetheless, teen births continue to be an unsolved epidemic in the United States. There are no simple solutions to end this epidemic, as there are many contributing factors. For the United States to continue to see a reduction in teen births, Americans must remain vigilant in attacking some of the leading influences.

Thinking clockwise the most broadly affected stakeholders would be the taxpayers, which are indirectly affected by teen pregnancy. According to the Office of Adolescent Health, teen pregnancies cost the United States taxpayers $9.4-$28 billion a year though public assistance payments, lost tax revenue, and greater expenditures for public health care, foster care, and criminal justice services (Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing). There have also been many government-funded programs with the intent of preventing teen pregnancy. Until recent years the government’s thoughts were that the only way to be sure there are no teen pregnancies is to promote abstinence until marriage (Melby 1). With in the years of 2001-2009 3.1 billion taxpayer dollars were spent delivering this message to American

Teen pregnancy in the United States is a continuing outbreak. We all may not realize that we are all affected by teenage pregnancy it is not just the girl giving birth. Teen pregnancy is not something that is just shunned upon in the US but something that affects our taxes too. We all sit back and let early pregnancy continue and do nothing to put a stop to it because we are all unsure of why it is happening. Some may argue that Title X is something that should be demolished. Is it because we as society are unsure of what Title X does? It is now that we learn what our government tries to provide us to keep the rate of teen pregnancy down. The United States is one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy worldwide. Today is where our opinions

There is no doubt that raising a child while essentially still being one is no easy task. There are so many things to worry about. Things like if both parents will raise the child or a single parent, who will pay the hospital bills, where the baby supplies will be coming from, health insurance, and in some cases a home to live in. Sure there is the option of adoption but that not being a popular alternative, these questions need to be addressed. “Teen childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars due to lost tax revenue, increased public assistance payments, and greater expenditures for public health care, foster care, and criminal justice services” (Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/). Because teen pregnancy often leads to higher dropout rates, teen parents often do not have the skills to obtain a stable carrier. As a result these families tend to have significantly less income compared to other teens who graduated high school and went and got a college education. This, as you would expect, leads to more government assistance to help support the child and as a result, higher taxes for everyone. “In 2013, almost 275,000 babies were born to teen girls between the ages of 15 and 19” (Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2014, from http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/). Teen parents are also at higher risk to fall into poverty. The number of children being born to teen parents is decreasing as a steady rate, and this is mostly due to the brilliant effects of contraception. “Between 1991 and 2013, the teen birth rate decreased by more than half in the United

Although teen pregnancy increases the population this is completely unnecessary. America has enough problems without teens getting

How many pregnant teens have there been? Over the years more girls are becoming teen moms. In Oklahoma teen pregnancy has become a problem. Recently Oklahoma has had a pregnancy rate of 47.5% (Tulsa World). Not only is it an issue in Oklahoma but an issue in the United States as a whole. The lack of awareness and how to prevent pregnancy is a reason to blame for the increasing numbers. The more we don’t make people aware of the increasing teen pregnancy rate and how to prevent then the numbers will continue to rise into an astonishing amount. Helping teens know of the different ways to prevent pregnancy can make an enormous difference in teen pregnancy. The issues that have an effect on teen pregnancy rates have been to the use of

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.