I found this at a website... Its just bs. It makes us pregnant teens and teen parents seem like horrible parents. No wonder so many people talk health question, its from these health question statistics.


The united states has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the united states at least $7 billion annually.

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the children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.

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thirty-five percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20. Eight in ten of these pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.

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teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).

- the teen birth rate has declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2002 with an overall decline of 31 percent for those aged 15 to 19. These recent declines reverse the 23-percent rise in the teenage birth rate from 1986 to 1991. The largest decline since 1991 by race was for black women. The birth rate for black teens aged 15 to 19 fell 42 percent between 1991 to 2002. Hispanic teen birth rates declined 21 percent between 1991 and 2002. The rates of both hispanics and blacks, however, remain higher than for other groups. Hispanic teens now have the highest teenage birth rates. Most teenagers giving birth before 1980 were married whereas most teens giving birth today are unmarried.

- the sons of teen mothers are 13 percent more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers themselves.

- the younger a teenaged girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have had unwanted or non-voluntary sex. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted.

- before they make you a grandparent. One of every 3 girls has had sex by age 16, 2 out of 3 by age 18. Two of 3 boys have had sex by age 18.

- surprise: your teen wants to hear from you. Seven of ten teens interviewed said that they were ready to listen to things parents thought they were not ready to hear. When asked about the reasons why teenage girls have babies, 78 percent of white and 70 percent of african-american teenagers reported that lack of communication between a girl and her parents is often a reason teenage girls have babies.