Teen Pregnancy
Pregnant teens struggle to finish school
Teen Pregnancy
About 85% of these pregnancies are unplanned, which in any population can increase the risk for problems. The biggest risk for teen mothers is delaying prenatal care or worse, 7.2% received no care at all.
Background
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one in three receives a high school diploma) and only 1.5% has a college degree by age 30.
- Nearly 80% of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare, a much higher percentage than their older counterparts. Almost 50% of all teen mothers and over 75% of unmarried teen mothers began receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child.
Jobs
Teen mothers are less likely to qualify for a high-paying job since only two-thirds of teen moms have a high school diploma.
Birth Rate
The teen birth rate has been steadily falling for years, but it still remains the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized countries.
In 2013 the latest year for which statistics are available, the U.S. pregnancy rate among girls between 15 and 19 was 26.6 births for every 1,000, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy. The rate has steadily declined since 1991, when it was 117 per 1,000 teens between the same ages.