Teen Pregnancy In The United States

Teen pregnancy is still a major issue regardless of the declining pregnancy rate. In 2006 birthrates among teenage girls age ranging from 15-17 were more than 3 times as high as

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 86 percent of mothers who give birth out-of-wedlock are teenagers. MTV’s show “16 & Pregnant,” which has only been on air since June 2009, is already reflecting the rapid boom in teenage pregnancy across various cities in America. Since the early eighties MTV has been considered somewhat of a cultural phenomenon for American adolescents and its depiction of gender has a strong impact that continues to this day (Holtzman 2000). Created by Morgan J. Freeman (director of teen shows Dawson’s Creek and Laguna Beach), the show “16 & Pregnant” has been said to be guilty of exacerbating, normalizing and even glorifying teen pregnancy. Perhaps, it’s just reflecting a current social dilemma

Teen pregnancy is a growing epidemic in the United States. Teen girls are becoming pregnant at an alarming rate, with a lot of the pregnancies planned. With television shows broadcasting shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”, it is giving teenage girls the idea that it is alright to have premarital sex and become pregnant. It is in a way condoning teen pregnancy.

Society in general is currently addressing the social problem of teen pregnancy in several ways. One of the most important is an increase in parent’s willingness to not only bring the issue up and discuss it with their children, but also allowing educators to address the issue in schools.

Even though teenage pregnancy rates have decreased in the U.S. in recent years, the rates are far behind European countries. Studies have shown that U.S. teenagers have (a) high rates of sexual intercourse at a younger age, (b) high rates of sex without contraceptives, (c) high rates of pregnancy, (d) and high number of multiple sex partners in comparison to European countries like Sweden, France, Netherland (Bell, 2009).

Teen Pregnancy and the Link to Poverty in the U.S. with A Focus on Western Ma Especially Holyoke and Springfield Mass

The issue being addressed is teen pregnancy rates in the United States. We can measure this problem by giving statistics on teen pregnancy related information and by describing the magnitude of the problem. Teen pregnancy exists everywhere in the world but the main focus of this policy memo is going to be that of the United States.

Each year around 90,000 adolescents become pregnant in the United States. Around 51% of adolescents pregnancies end in live births, 35% end up in induced abortions, and 14% result in miscarriage or stillbirth (Frick, 2007). Historically, the highest teen pregnancy rates in the United States were during the 1950’s and 1960’s before the legalization of abortion and the development of many the current forms of contraception(Frick, 2007). Rates enlarged steadily until 1991; since then, the birth rate among teenagers has decreased 35% for 15-17 year olds(Frick, 2007). Three in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before age 20. That is nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year. In 2013, there were 26.6 births for every 1,000 adolescent females ages 15-19, or 274,641 babies born to females in this age group. To prevent teen pregnancy, we should teach them abstinence, safe sex by using protection, and communication skills to discuss prevention from peer pressure.

Raising a child as an adult can be very demanding at times, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to raise a baby as a teen, when you are still a child yourself? Although the teen birth rate in the United States has been on a decline for the past decade, teen pregnancy is still a significant issue affecting many people (Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing). Teen pregnancy has been considered morally and ethically wrong in the United States for centuries (Sprague). Taxpayers all across the country, the parents and the child are all stakeholders of this social epidemic and are affected in many ways such as economically, educationally, and martially.

(Introduction) Since the late 1990s teenage pregnancy in the United States has declined. In the United States teenagers become sexually active earlier than those in other countries. The vast majority of teenagers who are sexually active do not use any type of protection. Since this is not being done it allows the rate of unexpected pregnancies to be higher than if protection was being used. Teenagers start early having sexual intercourse for various reasons such as sexual pleasure, intimacy with someone special, or to increase his/her social status. According to Manlove, Steward-Steng, Perterson, Scott & Wildsmith (2013), in the United States five hundred thousand teenage girls between the ages of thirteen to eighteen years of age give birth

During the 1600s and up to the early 1900s in the United States, teenage pregnancy was not identified as a social problem. Instead, the only issue during this time was the pressure of conceiving out of wedlock. Early family formation during the colonial times was considered normal for Americans due to the ease of access on resources and land. In the United States, teenage pregnancy developed into a social problem through the progression of women’s roles in society and lack of contraceptives which resulted to American citizens having to pay higher tax dollars in order for the government to financially support teen pregnancy and prevention programs.

Though reproduction of offspring outside of wedlock has been going on since the beginning of time, it has been drawn to my attention, not only in the world around me, but in my own community, that teenage pregnancy is just as big as an issue. Callow reproduction among teenagers became a social issue when pregnancy rates hit an all time high in the 1950s and early 1960s (“The History...”). As of 2013, there were 273,105 children born to American teenagers ranging from the age 15 to 19. Though teenage pregnancy is on a decline (down 47% from 1991), it is still a huge issue in the world we live in, affecting not only themselves, but their families and the communities they inhabit (Martin).

Adolescents who have parents that are uninvolved in their lives have a greater chance of becoming pregnant than those with parents who are very concerned with their children’s lives (Singh, et al.). Adolescents who feel they do not get enough attention at home from their parents or siblings will sometimes intentionally get pregnant to draw attention to themselves and to feel important (Miller 16). For example, when kids have parents that are constantly working, they sometimes feel lonely and will try to get pregnant so they can feel less alone (Miller 16). Teens that have divorced or separated parents may think that becoming pregnant will give their parents a reason to be together, so they intentionally get pregnant to try and bring their family closer (Miller 16). Teens that live with both of their parents are a lot less likely to become pregnant (“Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing”). Another time that adolescents will intentionally get pregnant is when they have a lot of brothers and sisters. These teens may feel that they are unimportant because their parents have to divide their time and money between however many children they have (Miller 16). Getting pregnant makes them think that they will get more attention from their parents, so they think it’s a great idea, when they really have no clue what they are

Teen parents frequently have lower earnings, besides societal troubles during their life. The study statistics showed that pregnancy rates were maximum among teens who came from families with single-parents since they probably had experienced poverty.

Like Amy and Loeber (2009), when it comes to the ecological paradigm of teenage pregnancy, Corcoran, Franklin, and Bennett (2000) also believe one’s socioeconomic status is a huge factor that contributes to this problem. A person’s socioeconomic status a lot of times determines “education, expanded family size, single-parent household structure, and lessened resources in terms of employment and income.” These three authors claim that educational performance and goals “dictate the potential costs of child bearing at a young age.” Their studies have also shown that teenage girls’ relationships with the school setting and poorer performance in school serve a greater risk for adolescent pregnancy.