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Public costs and policy implications of teenage childbearing.


 Teenage pregnancies end in an increasing number of abortions, a declining number of placements in adoptive homes, and an increasing number of children born to unmarried teens with large public expenditures for welfare and medical care. A study estimated that the public cost of a family started by a 1st birth to a teenager in 1979 would amount to $18,710; and all such families would cost $8.3 billion to taxpayers. Children of teenage parents face poorer infant health, lower academic achievement, greater risk of socioemotional problems, and a greater probability of becoming teen parents themselves. A recent New York City study indicated that 86% of homeless families were female-headed households, 83% received public assistance, and the likelihood of their genesis from a teenage birth was high. Over the past 10-15 years US culture has become more sexualized; as a result 7 million males and 5 million females are sexually active among 26 million young people aged 13-19, and fewer than 9% of them are married according to 1981 data. By 1979, 1/3 of white and 1/2 of black unmarried 16-year old girls had experienced sexual intercourse. Only 1/3 of sexually active teenagers use contraception consistently, and only 1/2 of them used any contraception at 1st intercourse. 20% of teen pregnancies occur within 1 month of 1st intercourse and 50% occur within the 1st 6 months. Fewer than 10% of teenagers receive a comprehensive sex or family life education course in high school. Cost-effective primary prevention activities focus on delay or abstention from sexual activity, or make contraceptives available. Expensive secondary prevention programs influence teenager's decision about whether to abort, carry the pregnancy to term, or place the baby up for adoption; they attempt to prevent various negative consequences of teenage pregnancy, including low birth weight, out-of-wedlock parenting, and educational and employment disadvantages.
