Posted:08/30/2005

Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Why It Matters?

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

What if?

The teen birth declined by one-third between 1991 and 2002. But’Ä¶what if it had not? What if the teen birth rate had stayed at the 1991 level?

1.2 million more children would have been born to teen mothers in the U.S.
460,000 additional children would be living in poverty.
700,000 more children would be living in single mother households.

What are the chances?

What are the chances of a child growing up in poverty if: (1) the mother gave birth as a teen, (2) the parents were unmarried when the child was born, and (3) the mother did not receive a high school diploma or GED.

27% if one of these things happen.
42% if two of these things happen.
64% if three of these things happen.

But, if none of these things happen, a child’Äôs chance of growing up in poverty is 7%.

Put another way, if these three things happen, a child’Äôs chance of growing up in poverty is 9 times greater than if none of these things happens.

A wise investment?

Teen childbearing costs taxpayers at least $7 billion each year. Moreover, the decrease in the teen birth rate between 1995 and 2002 is directly responsible for:

26% of the decrease in the number of children age six living in poverty.
68% of the decrease in the number of children living with single mothers.

Despite significant progress since the early 1990s, the U.S. still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy among comparable countries. Despite less sexual activity among teens, 34 percent of girls in this country become pregnant by the age of 20. Despite improved contraceptive use among teens, well over 400,000 teens have children each year, most of them unplanned, almost all of them out-of-wedlock. Clearly, preventing teen pregnancy is a highly effective and efficient way to reduce poverty and improve overall child and family well-being.