ABUSE Magazine
1 in 3 teens in the United States will be pregnant by age 19
While it may seem hard to believe , the U . S . has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world – that ’ s twice as high as in England or Canada . Almost half ( 46 %) of high school teens admit they ’ ve had sex and in 2009 , 34 % of currently sexually active high school students said they did not use a condom the last time they had intercourse . As a result , as many as 750,000 American teenage girls get pregnant every year ... and the consequences are lifelong .
Source : www . orthodoxytoday . org
Source : emilylhauserinmyhead . wordpress . com
Teen Mothers
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school ( only one in three receives a high school diploma ) and only 1.5 % has a college degree by age 30 .
Nearly 80 % of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare , a much higher percentage than their older counterparts . Almost 50 % of all teen mothers and over 75 % of unmarried teen mothers began receiving welfare within five years of the birth of their first child .
While we may imagine that a teen pregnancy is a the result of a one-time mistake , nearly 25 % of teen mothers have a second birth before turning twenty .
Teen mothers are less likely to qualify for a high-paying job since only two-thirds of teen moms have a high school diploma .
Teen moms are less likely to attend college .
Children of Teen Mothers
Babies of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and at low birth weight , which raises the probabilities of infant death , blindness , deafness , chronic respiratory problems , mental retardation , mental illness , and cerebral palsy ; it also doubles the chance that a child will later be diagnosed as having dyslexia , hyperactivity , or another disability .
These children are also at greater risk of abuse and neglect .
The sons of teen mothers are 13 % more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22 % more likely to become teen mothers themselves .
If an unmarried teen mother did not end up receiving her high school diploma , there is a 64 % chance that the child will grow up in poverty . The child of a married high-school-graduate , however , has only a 7 % chance of growing up in poverty .
Pregnant ?
You need : Facts , Options , Hope
24-hour helpline - 1-815-232-5433 or text 1-815-238-2180 www . freeportpregnancycenter . org
Source : dosomething . org abusemagazine . org | Illinois Spring / Summer 2013 | 11