| Social Issues: Teen Birth Rate |
Teen birth rate per 1000 of mothers aged 15-19 specified by race.
Progress Halting on Sexual Health and Reproduction of Teens and Young Adults
Published Thursday, July 30th, 2009
According to the Centers for Disease Control, the period of improvement in sexual and reproductive health of U.S. teens and young adults has flattened and may be worsening. The data is reported in the “Sexual and Reproductive Health of Persons Aged 10-24 Years – United States, 2002-2007” and comes from various sources in order to get a clear picture of the trends. Some of the findings include the majority of the new diagnoses of HIV infection among adolescents and young adults occurred among those aged 20-24 years and among males. Furthermore, about 1 million adolescents and young adults aged 10-24 years were reported to have chlamydia, gonorrhea, or syphilis in 2006.
This report also details that the progress seen in later years has halted, such as teen birth rates increasing in 2006 and 2007 following large declines from 1991-2005. Also, syphilis cases among teens and young adults aged 15-19 and 20-24 years have increased in both males and females in recent years. Rates of AIDS cases among males aged 15-24 years increased during 1997-2006 (AIDS data reflects people with HIV who have already progressed to AIDS.) Additionally, rates of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses among young adults were highest among non-Hispanic black youth across all age groups.
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Disadvantages Exist for Some Who are Never Married
Published Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
A new study derived from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, “Who Marries and When? Age at First Marriage in the United States: 2002,” suggests that only 17% of American women haven’t married by age 35, compared to 25% of men. Further evidence indicates that there is a 50% probability that women marry for the first time by age 25; men don’t hit 50% until 27 years of age. By 40 years of age, the probability rises to 86% for women and 81% for men. By race, there are differences even as early as age 18, in which there is a 10% probability of Hispanic women being married — doubling white women and triple that of black women. Between 25 and 44, 84% of non-Hispanic women have married vs. 56% of non-Hispanic black women. The report involved 12,571 people — 4,928 males and 7,643 females between 15 and 44 years old.
The data points to a large minority of black women still unmarried during nearly half their lifetime; while not necessary, it leaves single mothers disadvantaged in many ways. Though down after years of successful campaigns, teen birth rates among black teens is still second to Hispanic teens. The highest education level of both men and women of all races tends to be high school graduation and some college for those divorced or never married.
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Unmarried Births Double for United States
Published Thursday, May 14th, 2009
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a shift in the percentage of children born outside of marriage for the U.S. and other countries in recent years. The unmarried births are even more common in other countries according to the report, which lists 12 European Countries plus Japan. Those who rank above the US are Iceland at 66%, Sweden at 55%, Norway at 54%, France at 50% and Denmark and the UK at 46% and 44% respectively. The lowest percentage of unmarried births came from Japan, which amounted to 2%.
For the US, the 2007 report stated that during the 27 years between reports, unmarried births more than doubled from 18% to 40%. Accordingly, 60% of those births in 2007 were born of women in their early 20s, where before most of the unmarried births were from teen pregnancies. Also, 40% of those women who had children did so as part of a couple. By educational attainment, women who have children outside of marriage do so most between 9th grade and some college/AA Degree. Examining living arrangements for children of non-married couples shows that for both black and white mothers, the largest number of single mothers have never been married. This report comes as many women with children under 18 years old are leaving the work force. As for the single father, he is likely to be divorced as well as have a high school degree and some college.
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Teen Pregnancy
Published Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008
News outlets in the US are almost completely preoccupied with Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin’s 17 year-old daughter’s pregnancy.
The Center for Disease Control reports that in 2006 the birth rate for girls aged 15-19 rose from 40.5 per 1000 live births in 2005 to 41.9 per 1000. This is the first time the birth rate has risen since 1991, up until now the rate had fallen 34%. Time will tell whether this is just a blip on the road to decreasing unintended pregnancy or an upward trend.
No matter what your belief, this is not a problem of religion or personal feelings. Teen Pregnancy is a social problem because it leads to many different social difficulties for women, such as dropping out of High School and single parent households. For the Children, the outlook is worst: poor health, poor school grades, foster care, and commiting crimes in their early 20’s. The worst is the tendency to repeat their parent’s mistakes. According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, teen parenting cost the US about $9 Billion a year in 2004.
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Adolescent Reproductive Health - http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/AdolescentReproHealth/
The Adolescent Reproductive Health program promotes reproductive health among young people, with a primary focus on preventing unintended pregnancy among young people aged 10–24 years.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Teen Pregnancy Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/AdolescentReproHealth/ScienceApproach.htm
The purpose of the “Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy” program is to increase the capacity of state and local organizations such as schools, health clinics, community based organizations, and other youth-serving organizations to use a science-based approach to prevent teen pregnancy.