Rising Teen Pregnancy Rates: What are the Possible solutions?
Recently in the United States, it was estimated that 46.7 percent of teenagers (ages 15-19) have admitted to engaging in sexual intercourse (CDC, 2003, p.1). This statistic is further amplified by the recent trend suggesting that one in three teenagers will become pregnant before their twentieth birthday (Collins, 2006, p. 4). In addition to these alarming rates, many social, physical and economical implications arise not only for teens but for their children as well. Studies have found that the children of teenage mothers are not only at risk for low birth rate, and neglect or abuse, but “lower cognitive scores, lower educational aspirations, increased school failure, and welfare dependency” later on in life as well (Palmer, 2006) (Young, 2004, p. 362). Research has also suggested that teen mothers are more likely to have more children sooner and on a limited income which places most of them on welfare (or in need of it) (Palmer, 2006). Additionally, the United States currently spends 7 million dollars a year on public assistance, child health care, and foster care for teenage mothers (Sawhill, 2001, p.3).
Surprisingly, compared with teenagers in the early 1990s, the rates for sexual activity and pregnancy of teens today are marginally declining. While old fashion sex education maybe assisting in these gradual decreases, recent studies are finding that additional strategies need to be implemented with sex education in order to provide a substantial decline in teen pregnancies.
