Teen pregnancy: Better or worse?

May is National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, the month when our nation turns its attention to teen pregnancy prevention and the great strides we have made over the last 35 years. Between 1991 and 2015, the teen birth rate dropped 64%, which resulted in $4.4 billion in public savings in 2015 alone.¹ However, despite historic declines, the U.S. teen birth rate is still higher than that of many other developed countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.

Being the curious person that I am, I decided to dig deeper into the issue in Georgia and the U.S. and I discovered that there is good news. First-time teen pregnancies are down in the U.S. and Georgia. In the U.S. there were 20.3 births for every 1,000 adolescent females, ages 15-19, in 2016.² The 2016 teen birth rate is down 67 percent from 1991.² In comparison, Georgia’s birth rate for teens was 23.6 births for every 1,000 adolescent females in 2016, down five percent in 2014 (the most recent year in which data are available).²

Teen birth rates declined from 2016 to 2017 for most racial groups and for Hispanics.³ Among 15- to 19-year-olds, teen birth rates decreased:

• 15% for non-Hispanic Asians
• 9% for Hispanics
• 8% for non-Hispanic whites
• 6% for non-Hispanic blacks

While these stats present a promising story, repeat births to teenage mothers is a concern, especially in Georgia. In 2016, 17 percent of births to 15- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. were to females who already had one or more births.² Georgia’s repeat birth rate among teens in 2017 was 18.9%, the highest in the country.⁴

Having one or more children as a teen limits a mother’s ability to finish her education or get a job. Likewise, the children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.⁵

Childbearing leads to a high health, emotional, social and financial cost for both teen mothers and their children. Teen mothers want to do their best, but some can become overwhelmed as a new parent. Having more than one child limits a teen mother’s ability to finish her education or get a job. Infants born from a repeat teen birth are often born too small or too soon, which can lead to extra health issues for the baby.

To curb this rising rate of repeat birth to teens, expectant and parenting teens need an opportunity to complete high school or earn postsecondary degrees, as well as to gain access to healthcare, childcare, family housing and other critical supports. The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (GCAPP), founded by Jane Fonda, is one nonprofit in our community that has been doing this work since 1994. Another great nonprofit in our community is the Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence. They provide services for pregnant teens who are victims of domestic violence.

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta believes Positive Youth Development (PYD) is an effective strategy to continue driving the teen pregnancy rate down. PYD engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive. It promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.

Please join us in celebrating National Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Month and helping a young person see their full potential in life.

References

¹ https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm
²https://www.google.com/search?q=In+the+U.S.+there+were+20.3+births+for+every+1%2C000+adolescent+females%2C+ages+15-19%2C+in+2016.&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&oq=In+the+U.S.+there+were+20.3+births+for+every+1%2C000+adolescent+females%2C+ages+15-19%2C+in+2016.&aqs=chrome..69i57.2436j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
³ https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/social-determinants-disparities-teen-pregnancy.htm
⁴ https://gcapp.org
⁵ https://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/about/index.htm