Teenage Pregnancy in the United States
Autumn Rogers
Intercultural Communication
Teenage Pregnancy is problematic within the United States. There are many effects on
the education, taxes and others due to teenage pregnancy. There are many factors that could lead
to a teen becoming pregnant, such as religion, race, education, and many more. Teens becoming
pregnant has been a concern for the United States ever since the 1950’s. Although the pregnancy
rates have dropped since then there is still a concern for decreasing these rates.
From colonial times through the late nineteenth century, the majority of Americans were
married and had children by their mid-twenties. Marriage and parenthood was a normal choice
for people living in a society reliant on family production. Race, class and region could influence
individual circumstances, with rural areas experiencing the lowest age at marriage. People did
not worry about teen pregnancy as long as the mother married before giving birth. There was a
strong social pressure to get married before having kids, but the high number of babies born less
than nine months after the marriage ceremonies shows that these couples were already expecting
a child before the wedding(Henderson, 1994). State codes outlining minimum-age-at-marriage
laws followed English common law that allowed girls as young as twelve to get married without
parent’s consent.
Teenage pregnancy is usually defined as occurring between age 13 and 19. In rare
instances, girls as young as 10 who partake in sexual activities and become pregnant and give
birth. The majority of teen births happen between the ages of fifteen and nineteen(Sifferlin,
2013).
Teenage pregnancy has brought upon concern for people in the United States, since the
1950s. Teenage pregnancy has a huge impact on the girls and their children. Studies show that
teenage pregnancy lowers educational attainment, increases rate of poverty, and worsens “life
outcomes” for the children of the teen mothers(Henderson,1994).
Childbirth to teenage mothers in the United States was the highest in the middle of the
1950s, with 100 births per 1,000 teenage girls. In 2010, the rate of births has dropped to the
lowest of 34 births per 1,000 teenage girls. This was the lowest rate of teenage births in the US
since 1946. Although of the decline in teenage pregnancy over the years, approximately 820,000
of teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year(Honig, 2012).
Pregnancy and birth rates are generally higher for blacks, and lower for Hispanics and
whites. The pregnancy has different ranges based on their race. For example, pregnancy rates
within Blacks ranged from 103.9 per thousand in West Virginia to 217.9 per thousand in
Minnesota. For Hispanics, the pregnancy rates ranged from 56.2 per thousand in Tennessee to
142.1 per 1,000 in Arizona. The pregnancy rates among whites ranged from 46.0 per thousand in
South Dakota to 105.6 per thousand in Nevada(Lavin & Cox, 2012).
Most recent data shows the states with the highest teenage birthrate are Mississippi, New
Mexico, and Arkansas. The states with the lowest birthrate are New Hampshire, Massachusetts
and Vermont(Sifferlin, 2013).
Since the 1990’s, teen pregnancy in the United States has decline about 51%, and the
birth rate is decreased 57%. These are both historic lows. Abortion and birth rates in the U.S. for
teens from age 15 to 19 remain among the highest in the industrialized world. Every 3 out of 10
girls will become pregnant at least once before their 20th birthday(McCracken, 2014).
The pregnancy rate for women aged 18 to 19 is three times higher than that of younger
teens. Older teens account for around 500,000 pregnancies and 234,000 births each
year(McCracken & Loveless, 2014).
The teenage birth rate in the United States is the highest in the developed world. Greater
teen pregnancy rates translate into higher abortion in the United States for the industrialized
world. The United States has twice the teen pregnancy rate than Canada. Both Germany and
France have teen pregnancy rates that are four times lower than the U.S. Japan’s teen pregnancy
rate is eight times lower than the United States. The abortion rate is also very high. In 2005, 57%
of teen pregnancies resulted in a live birth, 27% ended in an induced abortion, and 16% in a fetal
loss(McCracken & Loveless, 2014).
About a quarter of all teenage pregnancies in the United States end in abortion. Four in
five teenage pregnancies are unintended, and two out of every five of these unintended teen
pregnancies in 2006 ended in abortion. Teens may choose to have an abortion because of many
reasons(McCracken, 2014). For example, financial responsibilities, completing their education,
or they simply feel they are not ready to become a parent yet.
Abortion rates are lower for younger than older teens. In 2010, the rate for teens under
fifteen was 2.5 per 1,000 compared with 8.4 per 1,000 for teens fifteen to seventeen. The rate for
teen eighteen to nineteen is 23.7 per 1,000. 17% of all United States abortions are from
teenagers. In 2006, there were 200,420 abortions among teenagers with the majority of those
teenagers between the ages of 15-19(Sifferlin, 2013).
There are also many health concerns for young teenage mothers, especially under the age
of 15. These problems are things such as low birth weight, premature labor, and anemia. For
mothers from the ages 15-19 the biggest risks deal with socioeconomic factors, rather than
biological effects(Honig, 2012).
There are many way to reduce unplanned teenage pregnancy. Sex education and access to
birth control are two ways to do this. In the United States, free access to reversible birth control,
along with educations decreased the rates of teen pregnancy by almost 80%, and the rate or
abortions by more than 75%(Henderson, 1994).
The media can influence teens to engage in sexual activities. A study conducted in 2006
found that adolescents who were more exposed to sexuality in the media were more likely to
engage in sexual activities. According to Time Magazine, “Teens exposed to the most sexual
content on Television are twice as likely as teens watching less of this material to become
pregnant before they reach 20 years old(Sifferlin, 2013).”
Teen pregnancy bring substantial social and economic costs through immediate and longterm impacts on teen parents and their children. In 2011, teen pregnancy and childbirth
accounted for more than $9.4 billion in costs to the United States taxpayers for increased health
care and foster care. There were also increased incarceration rates among children of teen
parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen
mothers(Honig, 2012). In 2013, almost one in six births to 15 to 19 years old were to females
who already had one or more babies.
Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates within girls.
Only about 50% of teen mothers graduate high school by 22 years of age. Only 30% of these
teen mothers have received a General Education Development certificate. Approximately 90% of
women who have no given birth during their teen years graduate from high school. Only 10% of
teen mothers complete a two or four year college program. Teen fathers have a 30% lower
chance of graduating from high school than boys who did not have a child(Honig, 2012).
The child’s education is also effected by being born to a teen mom. Children born to teen
moms often do not perform as well as the children of older mothers on childhood development
indicators and school readiness measures, such as communication, cognition and social skills.
Research also shows that they also fare worse than those born to older parents later on. For
example, children born to teens have lower educational performance, score lower on
standardized tests, and are twice as likely to repeat a grade(McCracken, 2014). Also, only
around two-thirds of children born to teen mothers earn a high school diploma. This is compared
to 81% of children born to adults.
The social and economic expenses of teen pregnancy can have short- and long-term
negative consequences for teen parents, their kids, and the community. Through recent research,
it has been shown that having children in the teenage years have a significant impact on
educational outcomes(McCracken, 2014).
A study suggests, states in the U.S. whose residents have conservative religious beliefs
tend to have higher rates of teenage births, on average. This may be due to the fact that some
communities with strong religious beliefs may frown upon contraception. Researchers say, if that
same culture is not discouraging teen sex, then the pregnancy and birth rates rise(Honig, 2012).
For example, Mississippi was first on the list for conservative religious beliefs and teen birth
rates.
Teen mothers are especially likely to use safety-net programs like Medicaid and WIC, as
the pregnancy rates dropped, the taxpayers saved money. The National Campaign to Prevent
Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, which estimated that federal, state, and local governments
avoided spending $12 billion in 2010, due to the drop of teen pregnancies after 1991(Lavin &
Cox, 2012).
The pregnancy rate of teens will never disappear, but can continue to drop. Teenagers
need to be properly educated about safe sex, and how to avoid becoming pregnant.
Works Cited
Henderson, S. (1994). Teen pregnancy. California Commission on the Status of Women.Reports,
Hearings, Recommendations, etc, , 183.
Honig, A. (2012). Teen pregnancy. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 17(4), 181.
doi:10.1080/02673843.2012.655912
Lavin, C., & Cox, J. E. (2012). Teen pregnancy prevention: Current perspectives. Current
Opinion in Pediatrics, 24(4), 462-469. doi:10.1097/MOP.0b013e3283555bee
McCracken, K. A., & Loveless, M. (2014). Teen pregnancy: An update. Current Opinion in
Obstetrics & Gynecology, 26(5), 355.
Sifferlin, A. (2013, May 24). What’s Behind The Drop in U.S. Teen Birth Rates | TIME.com.
Retrieved December 1, 2014, from http://healthland.time.com/2013/05/24/whats-behind-thedrop-in-u-s-teen-birth-rates/