Teenage pregnancy
From Freepedia
Teenage pregnancy is defined as females under the age of 19 becoming pregnant. In developing countries, teenage pregnancy is common since many women are married and bear children whilst teenagers. However, in industrialized societies, teenage pregnancy is now considered a social problem.
There are several perceived problems with teenage pregnancies in industrialised societies:
- teenagers are not thought to be ready, either emotionally or financially, to raise children, even if they are able to do so physiologically.
- adults generally feel that teenagers should not be engaging in sexual activity.
- teenaged mothers (and their families) are frequently treated as social pariahs, leading to problems accessing education and other services that might help them to provide a secure future.
- teenage pregnancy often leads to later poverty and to poor life outcomes (for example, educational underachievement) for the children of teenage mothers.
Contents |
Teenage pregnancy rates around the world
Teenage pregnancy rates vary widely between countries. According to Unicef in 1998 the pregnancy rate per 1000 females 15 to 19 years of age in 5 western countries were:
| Country | Rate
(per 1000 females) |
|---|---|
| United States | 52.1 |
| Great Britain | 30.8 |
| Canada | 20.2 |
| France | 9.3 |
| Sweden | 6.5 |
Source: [1]
The rates of teenage pregnancy also vary widely within many countries. For example, in the UK, the 2002 teenage pregnancy rate was as high as 100.4 per thousand young women in the London Borough of Lambeth, and as low as 20.2 in the Midlands local authority area of Rutland. In the UK, young women from African-Caribbean, Bangladeshi and Pakistani backgrounds are more likely to become pregnant whilst teenagers. [2] Teenage mothers overwhelmingly live in deprived areas, inner cities and coastal areas. [3] Young women from lower socio-economic groups are more than twice as likely to become teenage mothers. [4]
The causes of teenage pregnancy
Variations in teenage pregnancy appear to have a multitude of possible causes ranging from social mores, family background and education, to economic and social conditions. No consensus exists about the principal causes in variation in teenage pregnancy rates.
Efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy
Laws
In the United States, some governmental bodies have attempted to create laws to make it punishable for teenagers to engage in sexual activities (teen-teen sexual intercourse). In most cases these laws have been unsuccessful due to concerns about confusion with age of consent laws (which regulates at what age a person is old enough to have sex with an adult) or due to human rights implications.
As an example, in the state of Texas, it is illegal for teens to have sexual intercourse even if it is consensual. Punishment often includes juvenile prison for the male teen and community service for the female.
It appears that such laws have a minimal effect on teenage pregnancies with one study citing a reduction of only 0.9%.
Sex and relationships education
Health educators have long argued that sex education (about contraception and safer sexual behaviours) would effectively reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. Countries that do use progressive sex education at a young age, such as the Netherlands, do have a much lower rate of teenage pregnancy than the United States and the United Kingdom. Proponents of this position hold that providing young people with sexual information allows them to make their own choices about whether or not to have sex, not to be rushed into having sex without realizing the consequences, and to be able to use contraception when they eventually do choose to have sex. Good sex and relationships education supports young people in building healthy relationships.
Abstinence
Many US Christian religious groups and UK “family values”-oriented groups advocate an abstinence approach, preferring and preaching a lifestyle of "no sex before marriage". These groups (and others) push for the adoption of "abstinence programs" in school curriculums. Studies vary in showing the effectiveness of abstinence programs and all such studies are disputed because of the contentious level of debate.
A joined up approach: England’s teenage pregnancy strategy
(Please note: this is a devolved issue, so the policy applies only to England and not to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland)
In the UK, the Social Exclusion Unit, set up by the new Labour Party government after their election in 1997 to look at particularly difficult social problems, produced a report in 1999 which led to the creation of a dedicated England-wide teenage pregnancy strategy. The strategy has two targets: to halve the teenage conception rate by 2010, and to get 60% of teenage mothers into education, training or work by 2010.
The teenage pregnancy strategy, run first from the Department of Health and now based in the Children, Young People and Families directorate in the Department for Education and Skills, works on several levels to reduce teenage pregnancy and increase the social inclusion of teenage mothers and their families:
- joined up action, making sure branches of government and health and education services work together effectively;
- a national campaign to make sure that young people can get information about sex and relationships through the ruthinking phoneline and website;
- prevention of teenage pregnancy through better sex and relationships education, improving contraceptive and advice services for young people, involving young people in service design, supporting the parents of teenagers to talk to them about sex and relationships, and targeting high-risk groups;
- better support for teenage mothers, including help to return to education, advice and support, work with young fathers, better childcare and increasing the availability of supported housing.
The teenage pregnancy strategy has had mixed success and some argue that it's been a dismal failure. The 2003 conception statistics show a reduction of 9.8% in England’s under-18 conception rate and of 9.9% in the under 16 conception rate since 1998. [5] However, although teenage pregnancies have fallen overall, they have not fallen consistently in every region, and in areas have increased. There are also questions about whether the 2010 target of a 50% reduction on 1998 levels can be met.
Moves to increase the participation of teenage mothers in education, training or work have also met with mixed success. Schemes such as Care to Learn, which pays for childcare for teenage mums in education, and Sure Start Plus, which provides every teenage mum in the pilot areas with a dedicated personal advisor, have been popular and have been successfully evaluated. However, just 29.7% of teenage parents were in education, training or work in 2002-04 compared with 23.1% in 1997-99, [6] which leaves a long way to go to meet the 2010 target of a 60% participation rate.
Becoming a teenage mother
Being a teenage mother can be difficult. Many face prejudice and stigma from their communities. In the UK, most teenage mothers live in poverty, and nearly half are in the bottom fifth of the income distribution. [7] 90% of teenage parent families live on state benefits [8], but teenage mothers are entitled to approximately £20 less per week than mothers over the age of 25.
There is little evidence to support the common belief that teenage mothers become pregnant to get benefits and a council housing. Most knew little about housing or social security policy before they got pregnant and what they thought they knew often turned out to be wrong. [9]
Teenage abortion
Although there has been much press interest in the issue of teenage abortion in the UK, the rates of teenage abortion are relatively low. In 2004, the under-16 abortion rate was 3.7 per 1000 young women, and the under-18 rate was 17.8. [10]
According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 30% of teenage pregnancies in the United States result in abortions.
See also
External links
- Planned Parenthood on Reducing Teenage Pregnancy
- Alan Guttmacher Institute statistics: Teen Sex and Pregnancy
- YWCA England & Wales’ RESPECT young mums campaign
- UK Government Teenage Pregnancy Unit
