Teenage Pregnancy Is A Public Health Issue

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

Teenage pregnancy has long been acknowledged as an important health, social and economic problem in the United States, one that creates hardships for women and families and threatens the health and well-being of women and their infants. Unintended pregnancies span across age, race and religion, with a specific negative impact among the teenage population. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2016) In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. Birth rates are also higher among Hispanic and African American adolescents than any other race. In 2014, Hispanic adolescent females ages 15-19 had the highest birth rate of 38 births per 1,000

Teen pregnancy is still a major issue regardless of the declining pregnancy rate. In 2006 birthrates among teenage girls age ranging from 15-17 were more than 3 times as high as

For many years teen pregnancy has been a national social problem. Views have changed over the years as society has started to adapt to the thought of teen pregnancy. “Growing evidence suggests that pre-existing academic and economic hardships play a role in the continuing struggles of teen mothers. While 85% of young women who delay having their first child until at least twenty or twenty – one obtain a high school diploma or GED, only 63% of mothers who give birth by age seventeen do so” (Crosson- Tower p255)

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.

An ongoing epidemic in the United Sates is teen pregnancy. In America, our society is run down by many problems. Most are caused by the older generation, but this problem has risen with the younger generation around the age of 15-19. The peak of the teen pregnancy trend started in 1990 when 60 teen girls out of 1,000 had a teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). For every 1,000 females in 2013, on average only 27 out of the 1,000 had gone through teen birth ("About Teen Pregnancy.”). Over the years, it seems that the trend is winding down and that less and less teens appear to becoming pregnant. In 2013, the teen pregnancy rate decreased by 10% since 2012 and 57% 1990 ("Teen Birth Rate | The National Campaign.”).

Teen birth rates are higher in the United States than any other country. In 2010, over 600,000 teens were impregnated; however, in following years, the number was reduced by half (Werner, 2014). These statistics show a decline in teen pregnancy; nonetheless, teen births continue to be an unsolved epidemic in the United States. There are no simple solutions to end this epidemic, as there are many contributing factors. For the United States to continue to see a reduction in teen births, Americans must remain vigilant in attacking some of the leading influences.

In 2002, the United States noted 53 teen births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years, the highest among developed countries. If all pregnancies, including those that ended in abortion or miscarriage, taken into account that in 2000 the total value of the frequency of pregnancies accounted would be 75.4 per 1,000 adolescent women. State of Nevada and the District of Columbia have the highest rate of teenage

affected individuals. Teen mothers, their babies, the father, parents of the teen mother and father, and everyone in the United States to be exact are affected every year by teen pregnancies. Age, race, ethnicity and sex all come into play when talking about who is being affected by teen pregnancy. Ages fifteen to nineteen are the rage for teen girls being affected by teen pregnancy and both male and females are affected by the outcome of teen pregnancy. According to The PEW Charitable Trusts in 2013, Latina teens have the highest birth rate at 42 births per 1,000 teens and non-Hispanic white teens were 19 births per 1,000 teens (PEW, 2015). According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), “teen girls who get pregnant are less likely to finish high school, more likely to rely on public assistance, more likely to be poor as adults, and are more likely to have kids who have poorer educational, behavioral, and health outcomes over the course of their lives than do kids born to older parents” (HHS, 2016). Teen pregnancy affects everyone in the United States, for example costing taxpayers

Imagine waking up every hour, feeding and changing a baby of your own. Getting about four hours of sleep each night. In 2015 a total of 229,715 teenage girls had to go through this, because they took the risk of being sexually active at a very young age. The birth rate is 22.3 births per 1,000 women between the ages 15-19 years old (17Ce). Birth rates in teens have dropped increasingly from the year 1991 to now, but that still hasn’t stop these young girls from becoming teen moms. Many teen births differ by age, racial and ethnic groups, and region of the country. In 2014 73 percent of all teen births occurred to 18-19 year olds. Birth rates are higher among Latina and African American adolescents. In 2014, Latina adolescent female’s ages 15-19 years old had the highest birth rates. There was 38 births per 1,000 adolescent females. African American adolescent females had the second highest birth rates in 2014, with 34.9 births per 1,000 adolescent females. White adolescent had 17.3 births per 1,000 adolescent females (HHS).

Teen pregnancy is a current, ongoing issue within the United States. While the rate of women between the ages of 15-19 has dropped by 11%, this issue, as a whole, is still unresolved.1 Teen pregnancy costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year with increasing numbers in foster care and health care related expenses.1 I will propose three different prevention strategies that can be applied to this issue.

Pregnancy is a similar story. Nearly 615,000 teenage women become pregnant on a yearly basis (purple). That is 6% of the teenage population- a record low in 2010. This number was down 51% from 1990’s statistics (purple). This drastic decrease has been a result of more teenagers using contraceptives (purple). Still, this rate is double that of Canada’s and Sweden’s teen pregnancy rates (purple). The states with highest teen pregnancy rates were New Mexico, followed by Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The states with the lowest teen pregnancy rates were New Hampshire, Vermont, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Maine (purple). Most of these pregnancies were that of unwed mothers. Women living in poverty are nearly four times more likely to become pregnant than those in better socioeconomic situations (red). Teen fathers were two times as likely to be black than white.

Like Amy and Loeber (2009), when it comes to the ecological paradigm of teenage pregnancy, Corcoran, Franklin, and Bennett (2000) also believe one’s socioeconomic status is a huge factor that contributes to this problem. A person’s socioeconomic status a lot of times determines “education, expanded family size, single-parent household structure, and lessened resources in terms of employment and income.” These three authors claim that educational performance and goals “dictate the potential costs of child bearing at a young age.” Their studies have also shown that teenage girls’ relationships with the school setting and poorer performance in school serve a greater risk for adolescent pregnancy.

"Teen pregnancy in the United States: In 2015, a total of 229,715 babies were born to women aged 15-19 years old, for a birth rate of 22.3 per 1,000 women in this age group. This is another record for U.S. teens and a drop of 8% from 2014. Although reasons for the declines are not totally clear, evidence suggests these declines are due to more teens abstaining from sexual activity, and more teens who are sexually active using birth control than in previous years. Still, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate is substantially higher than in other western industrialized nations, and racial/ethnic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist (cdc.gov)." As teenagers (in the United States), we are peer pressured or tempted to try new things. Some teens tend to try out drugs, and alcohol. However, some are having unprotected sex in which, is leads to having babies. This is called, teenage pregnancy. This has caused the United States to create records based off of the statistics and facts given from, researchers across the United States. In order to help prevent teenage pregnancy in the United States, teenagers must understand why, having a baby now isn’t such a smart move on their part.

The teen pregnancy rate had decreased by the maximum of about 55 percent. Most teen birth rates had also gone down about 64 percent, but yet teen pregnancies and birth rate for teenagers ages 15-19 in the U.S still remains one of the highest comparable countries. Due to parenthood, most of teen moms drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate to get their diploma. Sexually active teens that don’t use any type of protection has a 90 percent chance of becoming pregnant within a year, 84 percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned.