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Good news on teen motherhood
Teen pregnancies decreased by 30 percent during the past 14 years, according to Saul Hoffman, chairperson of the Department of Economics in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. In his book, Women and the Economy: Family, Work and Pay, he writes, “Teen fertility rates in the United States are conspicuously high by international standards. The good news is that teen fertility rates in the United States have fallen steadily since 1994, especially for minority teens.” During that time, the birth rate fell by 30 percent, a decline that’s been especially steep for minority adolescent girls, for whom the birth rate fell by almost 50 percent. Hoffman says the teen birth rate is of considerable concern because of its link to poverty and welfare dependency. The current rate--43 births for every 1,000 teen girls ages 15-19--is the lowest recorded in the U.S. since World War I, although it is still much higher--four to five times higher--than the rate for countries in Western Europe and Scandinavia. Almost all teen births still occur outside marriage; only 20 percent of teen births are to married women. Hoffman says that the decline in the teen birth rate caused a reduction of 400,000 children living below the poverty line. Other research shows that teen births have negative consequences for mothers, fathers and children on a wide range of outcomes, so, a reduction makes for a healthier population. Delaware has followed the national trend, but not as dramatically. In 1991, the Delaware teen birth rate was just below the national average. Now, Delaware’s rate is a few points above the average. Since 1991, the teen birth rate in Delaware has fallen 23.3 percent, compared to the national average decline of 30 percent. Article by Barbara Garrison To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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