Currently, more than 700,000 teens become pregnant every year.¹ Based on this statistic, a teenage girl has a 3 in 10 chance of getting pregnant at least once before the age of 20.² Although teen pregnancies in the United States fell 38% from 1990-2004³, the birth rates for both teen and unmarried women increased from 2005 to 2006.⁴

Most teen pregnancies are unintended. Recent studies report that this is true in more than 80% of cases.⁵

Teenage mothers are more likely than older mothers to experience:

• Serious health and emotional problems^6-11

• Poverty^12,13

• Less education^13,14

• Single parenthood¹

Fathers of children born to teen mothers are more likely than other fathers to experience:

• Decreased earnings¹³

• Less education¹⁵

• Depression¹⁶

• Compared to older fathers, teen fathers are¹⁵

-- less likely to have plans for a future job

-- more likely to have anxiety

-- more likely to be homeless or in unstable household

Children born to teen mothers are more likely than other children to experience:

• Health problems^13,17,18

• Abuse and neglect^13,20

• Poverty¹³

• Less education^12,14,20

• Incarceration^12,14,21

Reviewed by: Jennifer A. Shuford, MD, MPH

Date: October 2008

References:

1. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, et al. Births: final data for 2005. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2007;56(6):1-103. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_06.pdf. Accessed May 2, 2008.

2. National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. Fact Sheet: How is the 3 in 10 statistic calculated [Fact sheet on the Internet; 2006 Oct]. Available from: http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/pdf/3_in_10.pdf. Accessed 2007 May 18. Archive cached at: http://www.webcitation.org/5RycPvw6O. Date cached: 2007 Sep 19.

3. Ventura SJ, Abma JC, Mosher WD, Henshaw SK. Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome for the United States, 1990--2004. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2008;56(15)=1-26.

4. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: Preliminary data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports 2007;56(7):1-18. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_07.pdf. Accessed May 2, 2008.

5. Finer LB, Henshaw SK. Disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States, 1994 and 2001. Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2006;38(2):90-96.

6. da Silva AA, Simoes VM, Barbieri MA, et al. Young maternal age and preterm birth. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2003;17(4):332-329.

7. Chen XK, Wen SW, Fleming N, Demissie K, Rhoads GG, Walker M. Teenage pregnancy and adverse birth outcomes: a large population based retrospective cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2007;36(2):368-373.

8. Combs-Orme T. Health effects of adolescent pregnancy: implications for social workers. Fam Soc. 1993;74(6):344-354.

9. Miles MS, Holditch-Davis D, Schwartz TA, Scher M. Depressive symptoms in mothers of prematurely born infants. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2007;28(1):36-44.

10. Kalil A, Kunz J. Teenage childbearing, marital status, and depressive symptoms in later life. Child Dev. 2002;73(6):1748-1760.

11. Gillmore MR, Gilchrist L, Lee J, Oxford ML. Women who gave birth as unmarried adolescents: trends in substance use from adolescence to adulthood. J Adolesc Health. 2006;39(2):237-243.

12. Hoffman SD. By The Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy; 2006. Available from: http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/costs/pdf/report/BTN_National_Report.pdf. Accessed May 3, 2008.

13. Maynard RA. Kids Having Kids: A Robin Hood Foundation Special Report on the Costs of Adolescent Childbearing [report on the Internet]. 1996. Available from: http://www.robinhood.org/approach/KHK.pdf. Accessed 2008 May 2.

14. Hofferth SL, Reid L, Mott FL. The effects of early childbearing on schooling over time. Fam Plann Perspect. 2001;33(6):259-67.

15. Quinlivan JA, Condon J. Anxiety and depression in fathers in teenage pregnancy. Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2005;39(10):915-920.

16. Heath DT, Mckenry PC, Leigh GK. The consequences of adolescent parenthood on men's depression, parental satisfaction, and fertility in adulthood. J Soc Serv Res. 1995;20(3-4):127-48.

17. Cunnington AJ. What's so bad about teenage pregnancy? J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care. 2001;27(1):36-41.

18. Harden KP, Lynch SK, Turkheimer E, et al. A behavior genetic investigation of adolescent motherhood and offspring mental health problems. J Abnorm Psychol. 2007;116(4):667-683.

19. Zhou Y, Hallisey EJ, Freymann GR. Identifying perinatal risk factors for infant maltreatment: an ecological approach. Int J Health Geogr. 2006;5:53.

20. Gueorguieva RV, Carter RL, Ariet M, Roth J, Mahan CS, Resnick MB. Effect of teenage pregnancy on educational disabilities in kindergarten. Am J Epidemiol. 2001;154(3):212-220.

21. Grogger J. Incarceration-related costs of early childbearing. Chap. 8 in: Maynard RA., ed. Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press. 1996:231-255.