During 2006, there were 435,436 births to teenage mothers in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, the teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates are considerably higher in the United States than in most other developed countries. Teenage pregnancies can cause numerous medical and social disadvantages that may have a strong influence on the lives of the teen parents and their children.
Poor Education and Financial Struggles
Teenage mothers often drop out of school when the pregnancy progresses and many of them either never return to school, or get a low level education. It has been estimated by the Guttmacher Institute that teenage mothers complete 1.9 to 2.2 fewer years of education than women who give birth when they are 30 or older.
Fortunately, more teenage mothers are finishing their high school now than they used to, but many still drop out of school. Moreover, only 1.5 percent of teen mothers will receive a college degree by the age of 30. Thus, it comes as a no surprise that teenage parents do not often get good jobs even later in life, and according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, teenage mothers are more likely to receive welfare than older parents within five years from the birth of the child.
Mental Health
Teenage mothers often experience social exclusion. Relationships with both their parents and friends can become more distant after a girl finds out that she is pregnant and this effect is often long lasting. Teenage mothers frequently report that they have no support, and according to Beth Barnet, PhD, and colleagues, they are twice as likely to feel depressed as compared to adult mothers. This study was published in March of 2008 in the “Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine” Journal.
Having a child as a teenager affects the father of the child as well. If the father is a teenager, he is more likely to begin to abuse drugs and alcohol than other boys his age, says Dr. Chantel from Western Michigan University.
Effects on the Child
Children born to teenage parents are more likely to lack proper prenatal care as compared to children born to adults. They are also more likely to be born prematurely, have low birth weight, or become hospitalized during their childhood than children born to adults, states the March of Dimes. The same source says that babies of teenage mothers are more likely to die during their first year of life. The younger the mother, the higher the risks are. Out of every 1,000 babies, 16.4 died during their first year of life in the United States in 2005 when the mother was under 15 years old. When the mother was older, only 6.8 out of every 1,000 babies lost their lives.
Just like their mothers, the children of teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of high school, or become unemployed than the children of older women. They experience abuse and neglect quite often, and many of them become parents as teenagers.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Preventing Teen Pregnancy
- The National campiagn: Linking Teen Pregnancy Preventionto Other Critical Social Issues
- The Guttmacher Institute: The Effects of Early Childbearing On Schooling over Time
- March of Dimes: Teenage Pregnancy
- Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine: Depressive Symptoms and Rapid Subsequent Pregnancy in Adolescent Mothers
