Disparities In US Birth Rates Of Hispanic Adolescents

SLIDE 2: Next you may ask why are we specifically focusing on teens who live in the south? Well, Geography matters! According to the national center for health statistics teen pregnancy is highest in the southern states vs. the Northeastern or Midwestern states. While the average teen birth rate was 24.2% nationwide it was between 30-39% in the southern United States. Currently, only 18 states and D.C. require that education regarding contraception is

Despite teenage pregnancy rates dropping more than fifty percent in recent years, it is within the Hispanic community that teen pregnancy continues to remain a serious public and social issue. When compared to other ethnic sectors in the United States, Hispanic females continue to hold a higher birth rate than others, being twice more than that of non-Hispanics. In general, there are the many apparent obstacles and consequences when dealing with this situation. Young adult parents must overcome educational, financial, and emotional problems months before their child is born.

“The national Hispanic teenage pregnancy rate is twice that of non-Hispanic whites, and in California, Hispanic adolescents are four times more likely than whites to become parents”. (guttmacher.org, 2004) . This rapid growth in Hispanic population and high rate of teen pregnancies is putting pressure on the educational and health care systems to address the needs of Hispanics. Many young Latina/Hispanic girls face discrimination, poverty, and limited access to healthcare and most importantly cultural challenges, which can place them at a high risk for unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus there is a clear need for teenage pregnancy

Based on the readily available images broadcast from films, MTV and other mass media, one might assume that the teen pregnancy epidemic is on the rise. In one respect, this health risk condition has rarely been more culturally visible than it is right now. However, it does bear noting that teen pregnancy has actually been on the decline in the United States over the last two decades. According to the source provided by Sheets (2012), "from 1990 to 2008, the teen pregnancy rate decreased 42 percent (from 117 to 68 pregnancies per 1,000 teen girls)."

Since the 1920’s, teen pregnancy among the Latino community has been one of the biggest social problems. Factors like poor or no sex education, negative media portrayal, poor or lower than average educational levels, social inequality and family pressure, such as encouraging womanhood in teen years, contribute to the high percentage of teen pregnancy among Latinas. However, teen pregnancy among Latinas has been decreasing in recent years. Recent programs such as public service announcement and sex education continue to help educate young Latinas and lower the risk of teen pregnancy. Nevertheless, Latinas still represent the group of people with the highest teen pregnancy. One in six Latinas between the ages of 14-20 will have a child at some point, and 30% of all Latino teenage parents have children out of wedlock.

This article is highly relevant to class discussion in terms of solving the teen pregnancy/sexual risk behavior epidemic within the African American community. As discussed in class, teen pregnancy is one of the chronic social issues of the African American society. The article gives statistical information in regards to narrowing down some specific reasons why this epidemic is occurring.

Birth rates in African American and Hispanic teens are substantially higher than whites, a trend that has persisted for decades. Even though pregnancy rates among teens are at an all time low. It is still a major issue but mostly affecting the urban communities. In this research paper I will be comparing and demonstrating the relationships between teenage pregnancy, social issues, and education.

Teenage mothers who did performed poor in academic, at an economic disadvantage, have a history of sexual abused in childhood and were raised by teenage parents were more likely to have a baby at a young age. Different racial and ethnic cultures/perspectives can also affect teen pregnancy. The risk factors do not play equally in every teen pregnancy case.

The incidence of teen births in the United States has reached a historic all time low throughout the last couple of years but teen girls are still giving birth to 1700 babies a week. However, minorities are still amongst the highest group of teenagers having children among the age group between 15 and 19 years of age. The highest ethnic groups were comprised of Hispanics and Non-Hispanic blacks making up 57% of all US teen births in 2011, according to a study done by the CDC in 2011. American Indians and Alaskan Natives had the third highest birth rates at about 36 births per 1000 females. The smallest occurrence of teen births per 1000 came from the Asian/Pacific Islander population. However, the continuously low population group with teen pregnancies involved White individuals so the question remains, why are most minority groups more likely to give birth within their teenage years?

Continuing along, according to studies, there is a difference between ethnic/racial groups in the incidence and occurrence of adolescent pregnancies. According to the youngest age group (10-14 years), Africans Americans are disproportionately present (Cooper et al., 1995) and the same holds true among females who have had two consecutive pregnancies as an adolescent (Blankson et al., 1993). Additionally, in 1997, birth rates for adolescents (15-19 years) were thirty-six for non-Hispanic white females, eighty-eight point two for non-Hispanic black females, seventy-one point eight for non-Hispanic native Americans and ninety-seven point four for Hispanic females (Ventura & Freedman, 2000). Thus, this reflects a disparity among the ethnic/racial

In my high school, I can count how many girls I know who either are pregnant or already have a baby. Out of the 10 I can count, eight of those teen mothers are African-American. It's more likely that an African American teen becomes pregnant because in my experience black teenagers don't take precautions when having sex. Although teen pregnancies can affect any girl of any race, African-Americans and Hispanic girls are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and their insufficient financial stability only serves to make the situation more difficult.

Teenage pregnancy has been viewed as an issue for many years, not only for teenage mothers but for babies as well. Much importance has been placed on this subject for the reason that although these rates are declining, they remain elevated. The United States represents over 600,000 American teen pregnancies every year, making this the highest rate in the industrialized world (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, ethnic minorities in the United States have a predisposition to the many social, educational and economic disadvantages that in fact shape adolescent sexual behavior and lead to the decision of adolescent motherhood. This paper will illustrate teenage pregnancy rates over the last few years, the factors that impact teen pregnancy, contraception and the likelihood of teen pregnancies across different ethnic groups.

When we look at influences, it is hard to say what precisely is the main pressure of teen pregnancies in the United States is. Each year, almost 750,000 teenage women, in the United States of America, ages 15 to 19 become pregnant (U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics, 2006). Worldwide, rates of

Health disparities are as a result of the differences in SDH and efforts at addressing this determinant at all levels will help in bridging this disparity gap ( Kotch, 2013). Worldwide, teen birth rates vary among and within countries; high teen birth rates are seen in developing countries, with countries in West and Central Africa topping this list (UNFPA, 2013). Among the industrialised nations, Switzerland has the lowest teen pregnancy rate while the United States has one of the highest rates (Guttmacher Institute, 2015). Also, a significant racial disparity in teen birth rates exists in the United States even though there has been a consistent decrease in these rates in the last ten years, with the most recent

Stereotyping is not as prevalent as in previous decades, although parents do worry of this happening.