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One Out of Every Five: Teen Mothers and Subsequent Childbearing

Contributing Organization(s): Center for Law and Social Policy

Author(s)/Creator(s): Jodie Levin-Epstein; Florencia M. Greer

Publication Date: 1998-08-01

Copyright Info: Copyright 1998 Center for Law and Social Policy. All rights reserved.

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Summary/Abstract:
The birth of a child to a teenager puts the young family at risk for negative social and health consequences; the birth of additional children can further impede the family's financial, academic, and social success. Though there is a national interest in reducing the teen birth rate, strategies designed to achieve this goal often insufficiently target a readily identifiable group -teens who are already mothers. Of those programs that do target teen mothers, few have been able to demonstrate success. Teen mothers should be targeted for pregnancy prevention not only because they contribute to the teen birth rate with its attendant consequences, but also because second and higher-order births to teenaged mothers often limits life options further than having only one child.Compared to a teen mother with one child, a teenager with two or more children typically faces: <ul><li>lower educational attainment;</li><li>greater likelihood of poverty; and</li><li>impaired health for the infant.</li></ul>

Audiences Served: Advocates; Policy Professionals; Researchers

Type/Format: CaseStudy; Evaluation; Policy/Issue Brief; Text

Language code: English

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