Teenage pregnancy in the United States
[3] As of 2015, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi had the highest adolescent birth rates in the Union.
Since 2012, the birth rate of American girls aged 15 to 19 has fallen below the OECD average, though it still remains above that of many other industrialized nations.
[12] According to Child Trends research institute, prevalence of teen birth in the United States has plummeted between the early 1990s and 2020s.
[3][19] A CDC analysis found that the rates of teens using a long-acting and reversible method of contraception, such as an intrauterine device (IUD), jumped from 0.4% in 2005 to 7.1% in 2013.
In these cases, though, the husband is typically much older,[22] and the bride's parents may be the ones who force her to get married for cultural or religious reasons.
[23] In some cases, the parents may force the teenage girl to marry her rapist if he impregnated her to avoid an investigation by the child protective services.
[18] Girls who were cohabiting, poorly educated, drug abusers, alcoholics, and came from low-income or unstable households were at the highest risks of unintentional pregnancies.
Some of the wants expressed by teens includes, "(a) the desire to be or be perceived as more grown up, with increased responsibility, independence and maturity; (b) a long history of desiring pregnancy and the maternal role; c) never having had anything to call their own and wanting something to care for and love and (d) the pregnancy was the natural next step in their life or their relationship with their boyfriend.
Pregnant teenage girls tend to gain less weight than older mothers, due to the fact that they are still growing and competing for nutrients with the baby during the pregnancy.
[14][32][33] This is because child-rearing is expensive and requires a lot of attention, and the typical teenager is unable to handle the responsibilities of schoolwork, earning a living, and childcare.
[33] Following the Great Recession of the late 2000s, young people take longer to gain financial independence than their counterparts three decades ago.
It is much harder for teenage parents to be able to support a family compared to the past, due to the competitive work environment.
[21] Some high schools in the United States offer a program for pregnant and parenting teens to continue their education.
The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in developed countries.
[37] The two primary reasons given by teenagers for not using any form of protection is that they think the female partner is unlikely to fall pregnant or that they fail to anticipate intercourse.
While traditional lessons involving bananas and condoms remain common, newer approaches that emphasize financial responsibility and character development have been implemented.
[1] As previously mentioned, contemporary American teenagers are much more likely to use contraception when engaging in sexual intercourse than in the past.
[1] There are large differences in adolescent pregnancy rates among developed nations like Canada, France, Great Britain, Sweden and the United States.
[42] The girls who watched any one of these shows also reported being able to predict the behaviors and intentions that result in teenage pregnancy.
